Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, atmospheric and process gas producer Praxair (LIN -0.11%) has earned a respected four-star ranking.  

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

Praxair facts

Headquarters (founded)

Danbury, Conn. (1907)

Market Cap

$33.9 billion

Industry

Industrial gases

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$11.3 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Stephen Angel

CFO James Sawyer

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

24.7%

Cash / Debt

$113.0 million / $8.7 billion

Dividend Yield

2.1%

Competitors

Air Products & Chemicals

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 695 members who have rated Praxair believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, TMFTailwind, succinctly summed up the Praxair bull case for our community:

-Customers sign long-term contracts that are indexed for inflation, which will protect margins over time (especially so in an inflationary period)
-Provides a vital product (gas) to numerous manufacturing/processing industries
-Generates strong operating cash flows and solid profit margins, and looks set to do so for a long time