5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Gerdau

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 125,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, South American steelmaker Gerdau (NYSE: GGB) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks woefully lag the market average.

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

Gerdau facts

Headquarters (founded)	Porto Alegre, Brazil (1901)
Market Cap	$10 billion
Industry	Steel
TTM Revenue	$21.09 billion
Management	CEO Andre Johannpeter CFO Osvaldo Schirmer
Return on Equity (average, last three years)	33.2%
Dividend Yield	4.8%
Competitors	ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), Nucor (NYSE: NUE)
CAPS members bullish on GGB also bullish on:	Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX)
CAPS members bearish on GGB also bearish on:	Mechel (NYSE: MTL), General Motors (NYSE: GM)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's), and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, 1,070 of the 1,095 members who have rated Gerdau -- or 98% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include CAPS All-Star brightsideLP and ChrisCanaan.

Last month, brightsideLP tapped the stock as an attractive way to play the President-elect's stimulus plan: 

Attractive valuation. I like the area (location) of production ... Global increase in Gov't spending on infrastructure will add demand and create at least a short term increase to this business.

In a pitch from three days earlier, ChrisCanaan follows that bullish line of thinking:

This American depository receipt has strong potential. President-elect Obama will likely get the stimulus package that he had proposed to congress and within that stimulus package about 150 billion will go to infrastructure. This government spending will help out steel producers and this brazilian steel producer will greatly benefit.

What do you think about Gerdau, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 125,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.