5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: AES

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, global power producer AES (NYSE: AES) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

AES facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Arlington, Va. (1981)
Market Cap	$8.7 billion
Industry	Independent power producers and energy traders
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$14.3 billion
Management	CEO Paul Hanrahan (since 2002) CFO Victoria Harker (since 2006)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)	23.2%
Cash / Debt	$2 billion / $19.7 billion
Other Highly Rated Utility Stocks	Southern (NYSE: SO) Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) FPL Group (NYSE: FPL)
CAPS Members Bullish on AES Also Bullish on	Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)
CAPS Members Bearish on AES Also Bearish on	Ford Motor (NYSE: F) Citigroup (NYSE: C)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's), company press release, and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 94.2% of the 450 members who have rated AES believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include stuinkc and jnbottomley.

Just last month, stuinkc singled out the stock as a global way to go green:

energy giant, international exposure, some green, insiders such as president and directors buying it up, which I love. possibility of added capital with [China Investment Corp.] rumors swirling. no dividend ... and income down past year over year, but strong revenue and eps growth rate over last 3 years.

(Since that pitch was written, AES has agreed to sell a 15% stake of itself to China Investment Corp. for $1.58 billion.)

In a more recent pitch from last week, jnbottomley expands on AES as an international power play:

[W]ell-positioned in the developing markets with affordable power solutions as well as select wealthy markets with a sustainable product offering. Moreover, 2/3 of their revenues are outside of the US so a good hedge against the US dollar. Management is strong and the company retains a sense of entrepreneurialism simply not found in the power sector at large companies.

What do you think about AES, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!