Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, integrated oil giant BP (NYSE: BP) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

BP facts

Headquarters (founded) London (1889)
Market Cap $133.5 billion
Industry Integrated oil and gas
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $376.6 billion
Management CEO Robert Dudley (since October 2010)
CFO Brian Gilvary (since January 2012)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 12%
Cash/Debt $15.2 billion / $47.7 billion
Dividend Yield 4.4%
Competitors Chevron
ExxonMobil
Royal Dutch Shell

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

On CAPS, 94% of the 5,257 members who have rated BP believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.  

A few months ago, one of those bulls, swedishsquirrel, succinctly summed up the BP bull case for our community:

BP, still recovering from the Macondo well incident, has several new projects scheduled to come online within the next 5 years, which I believe will help grow the bottom line. The dividend has a long way to go before it reaches pre-spill value, but that just allows for additional shareholder gain.

If you want market-beating 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 its four-star rating, BP may not be your top choice.

If that's the case, we've found another energy play we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Only Energy Stock You'll Ever Need." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

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