Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, heavy equipment giant Caterpillar (CAT 1.59%) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Caterpillar facts

Headquarters (founded)

Peoria, Ill. (1925)

Market Cap

$58.5 billion

Industry

Construction and farm machinery

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$65.9 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Douglas Oberhelman

CFO Bradley Halverson

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

34.6%

Cash / Debt

$3.3 billion / $40.2 billion

Dividend Yield

2.3%

Competitors

CNH Global

Deere

Terex

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

On CAPS, 94% of the 6,035 members who have rated Caterpillar believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Earlier this month, one of those Fools, BriAsh, tapped the stock as a particularly solid bargain opportunity: "[Caterpillar] builds construction and heavy machinery that are competitive globally, and many can run on cheaper natural gas. Share values are down because of economic stagnation, and what appears to be a very [dumb] acquisition in China (perhaps a fraud victim), but [Caterpillar] will weather these temporary setbacks by continuing to supply the kind of equipment nations need to eventually rebuild deteriorating infrastructure."

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