4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: International Coal

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, small-cap coal miner International Coal Group (NYSE: ICO) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

International Coal facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Scott Depot, W.Va. (2004)
Market Cap	$581 million
Industry	Coal and consumable fuels
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$1.13 billion
Management	CEO Bennett Hatfield (since 2005) CFO Bradley Harris (since 2006)
Compound Annual Revenue Growth (Over Past 3 Years)	13.2%
Cash / Debt	$66.3 million / $443.3 million
Competitors	Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX)
CAPS Members Bullish on ICO Also Bullish on	Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)
CAPS Members Bearish on ICO Also Bearish on	James River Coal (Nasdaq: JRCC) AK Steel (NYSE: AKS)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96.5% of the 736 members who have rated International Coal believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Stars nibs61 and JMJeffrey, both of whom are ranked in the top 20% of our community.

Late last month, nibs61 made a rather simple case for betting on black: "Coal is still needed to fuel this world and this company does it well. The price is cheap right now."

In a pitch from three weeks ago, JMJeffrey shares that sooty sentiment:

Coal for all its bad publicity will still be around and widely used. Once the global economy picks up, [International Coal] should be well positioned with its increased focus on metallurgical coal to outperform the market from these prices. ... [T]hey continue to ramp up in the highly profitable metallurgical coal area. ... [W]e have [a] company getting a much better price for coal, with a greater percentage of the more profitable metallurgical coal. ... This is mostly a commodity play on coal prices but the company is well-run and should do better than most in converting coal to cash.

What do you think about International Coal, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!