5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Pharmaceutical Product

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 130,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, contract drug research company Pharmaceutical Product Development (Nasdaq: PPDI) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

PPD facts

Headquarters (founded)	Wilmington, N.C. (1985)
Market Cap	$2.29 billion
Industry	Medical labs and research
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$1.54 billion
Management	CEO Dr. Fredric Eshelman CFO Daniel Darazsdi
Return on Equity (average, last three years)	16.7%
Dividend Yield	2.6%
Competitors	Covance (NYSE: CVD) Parexel International (Nasdaq: PRXL)
CAPS members bullish on PPDI also bullish on	Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) General Electric (NYSE: GE)
CAPS members bearish on PPDI also bearish on	General Motors (NYSE: GM) Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS.

Over on CAPS, fully 440 of the 446 members who have rated PPD -- some 98.7% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star TSIF, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and SmoothHughes.

Earlier this month, TSIF tapped PPD as researcher worth researching:

Decent margins, no debt, good cash flow. Somewhat recession proof in that medical companies need a continuous stream of new products to offset those losing patent protection. A full range of services that are usually farmed out by the "big boys" who don't want to keep specialized staff.

In a pitch from two weeks later, SmoothHughes concurs:

Nice balance sheet with $4/share in cash and no debt. The company has strong founding management and is in a good sector. Pharmaceuticals should have a strong tail wind with the aging baby boomers and the rapid advances in biochemistry. National medicine might even help as big pharma looks to reduce costs through more outsourcing.

What do you think about PPD, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 130,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.