Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, regional freight railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Genesee & Wyoming facts

 

 

Headquarters (founded)

Greenwich, Conn. (1899)

Market Cap

$4.8 billion

Industry

Railroads

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$1.0 billion

Management

CEO John Hellmann (since 2007)

CFO Timothy Gallagher (since 2005)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

10.4%

Cash/Debt

$29.3 million / $1.8 billion

Competitors

Burlington Northern Santa Fe

OmniTRAX

Union Pacific 

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

On CAPS, 97% of the 957 members who have rated Genesee & Wyoming believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, yhkpenguin, succinctly summed up the Genesee & Wyoming bull case for our community:

Similar to my thoughts on [Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI), railroads are the backbone of the economy, and when the economy finally climbs out of the recessionary hole it is in, companies like GWR will reap the most benefits. GWR also has the dominance in short and regional lines in the North American market plus Australia. Their traffic growth has been steady of late and performed well over the years.