Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, diversified manufacturer National Presto Industries (NYSE: NPK) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

National Presto facts

Headquarters (Founded) Eau Claire, Wis. (1905)
Market Cap $656 million
Industry Aerospace and defense
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $462.7 million
Management

Chairman/CEO Maryjo Cohen (since 1994)

CFO Randy Lieble (since 2008)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 19.6%
Cash/Debt $112 million / $0
Dividend Yield 8.6%*
Competitors

L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG)

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

On CAPS, 98.5% of the 536 members who have rated National Presto believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star davethewav9, who is ranked in the top 15% of our community, and glenvar.

Earlier this summer, davethewav9 offered a balanced take on National Presto: "Has some risks in that Gov contracts for ammunition could be lost or scaled back or [Wal-Mart] could stop carrying products, but if not the case, this is severely discounted even for a small growth rate. Stellar stewardship and great dividend, great ROE, great balance sheet."

In fact, National Presto boasts over $110 million in cash on its balance sheet with zero debt. Meanwhile, defense industry peers L-3 and Boeing (NYSE: BA) sport a debt-to-equity ratio of 59% and 241%, respectively, while consumer-product competitor Procter & Gamble has debt-to-equity of 47%.

CAPS member glenvar elaborated on the National Presto bull case in late July:

This stock returns cash to the shareholders rather than spending it on misadventures as some other companies do. Also a lot of its competition in the small appliance sector has gotten out of the business. It has a clean balance sheet (no debt), the earnings have grown at a 23% rate over the past 5 years (including 3 recession years) and it is trading at an 11 P/E on trailing earnings.

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