Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, power plant operator NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

NRG facts

Headquarters (founded) Princeton, N.J. (1989)
Market Cap $3.8 billion
Industry Independent power producers
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $9.1 billion
Management CEO David Crane (since 2003)
CFO Kirkland Andrews (since 2011)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 6.9%
Cash/Debt $1.1 billion / $9.9 billion
Projected Dividend Yield 2.2%
Competitors AES
Calpine
GenOn Energy

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

On CAPS, 98% of the 729 members who have rated NRG believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.  

Just last week, one of those bulls, All-Star InvestWhatWorks, tapped the stock as an attractive future income opportunity:

NRG Energy will soon be a more shareholder-friendly company. NRG will initiate the company's first ever common share dividend. The first dividend payment will be paid in the third quarter of this year. ... The dividend payout ratio is expected to be a very manageable 15%, leaving plenty of room for NRG to increase the dividend in the future.

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