Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and natural gas explorer Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Continental facts

Headquarters (founded)

Enid, Okla. (1967)

Market Cap

$9.5 billion

Industry

Oil and gas exploration and production

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$1.3 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Harold Hamm

CFO John Hart

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

13.5%

Cash/Debt

$261.4 million / $896.1 million

Competitors

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)

EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG)

Source: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95.5% of the 689 members who have rated Continental believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include jed71 and Keekers44.

Earlier this month, jed71 tapped Continental as a potent opportunity:

Whether oil is at $70 a barrel or $100 a barrel, this company will still make buckets of money. A 24 billion barrel resource is just tremendously impressive, if the CEO is not exagerrating the total resource in Bakken. Given his track record, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Over the next five years, in fact, Continental is expected to grow its bottom line at a brisk rate of 18% annually. That's faster than industry peers such as Chesapeake (11%), EOG (12%), and Apache (NYSE: APA) (9%).

CAPS member Keekers44 elaborates on the Continental bull case:

This company is heavily drilling in the Williston Basin and the Bakken. CLR estimates its own 2011 production growth in the range of 30% to 40%. CLR CEO Mr. Hamm noted on his interview with Jim Cramer on Mad Money North Dakota special that ... even if the price of Oil goes down, CLR should be protected. All in all, a good top North Dakota play.

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