Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oilfield services specialist National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

National Oilwell facts

Headquarters (founded) Houston (1862)
Market Cap $35.0 billion
Industry Oil and gas equipment and services
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $14.7 billion
Management CEO Merrill Miller, Jr. (since 2001)
CFO Clay Williams (since 2005)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 11.2%
Cash/Debt $3.5 billion / $510.0 million
Dividend Yield 0.6%
Competitors McDermott International
Schlumberger
Weatherford International

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

On CAPS, 98.5% of the 3,420 members who have rated National Oilwell believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, dsciola, highlighted several of National Oilwell's positives:

90% of global oil rigs have [National Oilwell] parts on them and [National Oilwell] has approx 60% of global mrkt share. ... High switching costs for customers due to nature of product as well as presence of [National Oilwell] 'stores' on rigs, technical systems, and ability to train customer employees ... Considered as growth play due to growing demand of emerging market need for energy and continued global preference for oil as #1 energy source … Admittedly, not contrarian play at moment due to recent spike in gas prices and Iran concerns; betting on being part of more longer term trend / catalyst for higher oil prices.

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