Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, carbon fiber maker Zoltek Companies (Nasdaq: ZOLT ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Zoltek's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Zoltek facts
| Headquarters (Founded) |
St. Louis (1975) |
| Market Cap |
$364.8 million |
| Industry |
Specialty chemicals |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$143.5 million |
| Management |
Founder/Chairman/CEO Zsolt Rumy
CFO Andrew Whipple
|
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) |
(1.9%) |
| Cash/Debt |
$20.66 million / $0 |
| Competitors |
Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT )
Hexcel (NYSE: HXL )
|
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 94% of the 740 members who have rated Zoltek believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include rofgile and All-Star JakilaTheHun, who is ranked in the top 0.1% of our community.
Late last month , rofgile touched on the powerful winds working in Zoltek's favor: "Wind power will begin to grow quite strongly in 2011-2012, with the end of austerity, crisis of Japan, and reevaluation of priorities. Further, offshore wind is the next development in power generation and will begin to become a real draw."
Over the next five years, in fact, Zoltek is expected to grow its bottom line at a solid rate of 15% annually. That's faster than close rivals Cytec (11%) and Hexcel (9.6%), as well as diversified chemical plays like Ashland (NYSE: ASH ) (11.1%) and Dow Chemical (7%).
CAPS All-Star JakilaTheHun expands on the Zoltek outperform argument:
I think there are a number of public carbon fiber makers, but they aren't traded on the major US exchanges. ...
Also a lot of other companies make carbon fiber, but its higher cost fiber, more aimed at the aerospace market. Hexcel is a good example (and a very good company).
But ZOLT has been my favorite for investing purposes, since it's the easiest for US investors to get a hold of and its been a leader in low-cost fiber, which is where the future growth will be at.
What do you think about Zoltek, 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!
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