Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, aerospace and defense company Astronics (Nasdaq: ATRO) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Astronics facts

Headquarters (founded) East Aurora, N.Y. (1968)
Market Cap $339.3 million
Industry Aerospace and defense
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $238.2 million
Management CEO Peter Gundermann (since 2003)
CFO David Burney (since 2003)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 14.5%
Cash/Debt $8.2 million / $27.6 million
Competitors Goodrich
Honeywell Aerospace
Ultra Electronics

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 314 members who have rated Astronics believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.  

Just last week, one of those bulls, dreamjob, succinctly summed up the bull case for our community:

Growing owner earnings and free cash flow at a nice clip, high [return on invested capital] and [cash return on invested capital], sales and earnings growing nicely, and priced right. I would like to see a little less debt, but this company is small and growing fast -- I'll be slightly forgiving here. It's an un-sexy industry as well.

If you want market-topping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future. Of course, despite a strong five-star rating, Astronics may not be your top choice.

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Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.