5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Linear Tech

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 120,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chip maker Linear Technology (Nasdaq: LLTC) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Linear's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Linear facts

Headquarters (founded)	Milpitas, California (1981)
Market Cap	$4.73 billion
Industry	Semiconductors
TTM Revenue	$1.2 billion
Management	Co-Founder/Chairman Robert Swanson, Jr. CEO Lothar Maier
Return on Equity (average last three years)	22.8%
Dividend Yield	4.0%
Competitors	Maxim Integrated Products (Nasdaq: MXIM) Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN)
CAPS members bullish on LLTC also bullish on	NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
CAPS members bearish on LLTC also bearish on	IBM (NYSE: IBM) Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 449 of the 470 members who have rated Linear -- some 96% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include 12Bknown and FutbalRef.

Last week, 12Bknown kept the Linear buy equation simple: "One of the rare tech stocks with a solid performance record, while all the while paying a nice dividend, currently running at nearly 4%."

An earlier pitch from FutbalRef in September agrees, elaborating on the stock's income-generating consistency:

This is a good solid company that makes hi-reliability analog semiconductors used in all types of products from computers to automotive to industrial applications, to high end comsumer electronics, nav systems, aerospace (they have parts in the martian rovers), to defense and others. They pay a nice dividend for a growth stock and they have increased the dividend every year since 2000. They stick to there high profit margin model and avoid products that become commodities.

What do you think about Linear, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 120,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.