Based on the aggregated intelligence of 165,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, French waste management and water supply company Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Veolia facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Paris, France (1853)

Market Cap

$12.8 billion

Industry

Multi-utilities

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$44.8 billion

Management

CEO Antoine Frerot (since November 2009)
CFO Pierre-Francois Riolacci (since February 2010)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

9.4%

Cash/Debt

$8.1 billion / $29.1 billion

Dividend Yield

4.6%

Competitors

General Electric (NYSE: GE)
Waste Management (NYSE: WM)

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 804 members who have rated Veolia believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Lotterypick and All-Star kirkydu, who is ranked in the top 1% of our community.

Two months ago, Lotterypick highlighted Veolia as a tempting income opportunity: "Great dividend, great stock for the recovery, more projects in the middle east to come. When the bull picks up, there's no telling how far this stock can grow."

Of course, with great geographic reach comes the challenge of going up against great gorillas. General Electric and Siemens, for example, have already made some pretty heavy bets on China and India, with a focus on desalination and wastewater recycling. In the U.S., Veolia's environmental services still pale in size to the trash-master combo of Waste Management and Republic Services. Nevertheless, Fools like kirkydu think Veolia's breadth of services make it a potent way to play with water:

Because of [Veolia's] strong position not only in water infrastructure, but also waste management, and also their current low price largely due to EC issues makes this one of my strongest buys. Interestingly, Warren [Buffett] and Bill Gates have both been investing in waste management plays the past year or so. [Veolia] is the rare stock that has two extremely strong business franchises, a solid balance sheet, a big dividend that appears very safe.

What do you think about Veolia, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!