Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Occidental facts

Headquarters (Founded) Los Angeles (1920)
Market Cap $78.1 billion
Industry Integrated oil and gas
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $23.0 billion
Management CEO Stephen Chazen (since May 2011)
CFO James Lienert (since August 2010)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 14.1%
Cash/Debt $4.04 billion / $5.87 billion
Dividend Yield 1.9%
Competitors DuPont
ExxonMobil
Royal Dutch Shell

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 1,361 members who have rated Occidental believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

This past fall, one of those bulls, TMFMT, succinctly summed up the outperform argument:

Production is up [year-over-year] for the past few years, dividend keeps rising steadily, outside US sales are strong but with only 23% of assets outside US they have a lot of room to grow. Similar to both Exxon and Shell with both Oil and Gas and chemical production. Own their pipelines and make small rev from these types of operations. P/E currently at 12 and cash was doubled last year.

What do you think about Occidental, 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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