Based on the aggregated intelligence of 130,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chemical maker Olin (NYSE:OLN) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Olin facts

Headquarters

Clayton, Missouri (1892)

Market Cap

$719.6  million

Industry

Diversified Chemicals

TTM Revenue

$1.76 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Joseph Rupp

CFO John Fischer

Return on Equity (average, last three years)

21.7%

Dividend Yield

8.6%

Competitors

Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW)

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG)

CAPS members bullish on OLN also bullish on:

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

General Electric (NYSE:GE)

CAPS members bearish on OLN also bearish on:

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's), and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, 347 of the 359 members who have rated Olin -- or 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Nittany95 and ikkyu2, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.

Two weeks ago, Nittany95 tapped Olin as an ideal high-return, low-price situation:

Fantastic [balance sheet], great ROE and ROA in a business where size, and efficiency make all of the difference in the world. … they could leverage up the [balance sheet] slightly by using the [revolving loan] to buy back stock at these depressed levels. 2009 should be interesting.

In a pitch from late January, ikkyu2 cited its tasty yield (which is even higher today) as good reason to take a closer look at Olin:

One of the questions about this company is whether or not Shintech will be able to eat into its market share from its new Louisiana plant. The other is what are natural gas prices going to do -- [Olin] is buffered somewhat against these spikes, because 55% of its production is powered by hydroelectric, unlike other Cl-Al companies …

This company has been paying a 20 cent quarterly dividend, rain or shine, for years and still managed to build up $430m cash reserves to buy up its next largest competitor, Pioneer. … [T]he company may well raise the dividend if it can keep realizing synergies from its recent acquisition, and especially if nat'l gas price and demand start to rise again.

What do you think about Olin, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 130,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.