Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, palladium miner Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Stillwater facts

Headquarters (Founded) Columbus, Mont. (1992)
Market Cap $1.49 billion
Industry Precious metals and minerals
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $680.2 million
Management Chairman/CEO Francis McAllister (since 2001)
CFO Gregory Wing (since 2004)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) (2%)
Cash/Debt $254.9 million / $196 million
Competitors North American Palladium (AMEX: PAL)

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

On CAPS, 93% of the 646 members who have rated Stillwater believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include ibeckman and Turfscape.

Earlier this summer, ibeckman succinctly summed up the Stillwater bull case:

[M]anagement is excellent and very experienced in [copper] mining as well as [platinum group metals]. They see value in the Altar mine, and I trust their judgment. No labor troubles. Platinum/palladium prices going higher.

Over the past three years, in fact, Stillwater has grown its bottom line at a brisk rate of 141% annually. That's faster than industry peers such as Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) (17%) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) (13%), and Stillwater's earnings of $101.3 million over the past 12 months dwarfed North American Palladium's tiny $2 million profit.

CAPS member Turfscape elaborates on the Stillwater bull case:

You like precious metals? Don't buy the metal ... buy the miner. Stillwater Mining has a strong niche in Platinum Group metals with a healthy cash flow. They recently posted record earnings and announced that they are diversifying into copper and gold mining through an acquisition. The market reacted badly, making SWC a good value.

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