Based on the aggregated intelligence of 160,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Chevron facts

Headquarters (Founded)

San Ramon, Calif. (1879)

Market Cap

$149.5 billion

Industry

Oil and gas

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$159.3 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO John Watson (since January 2010)

CFO Patricia Yarrington (since January 2009)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

22.2%

Cash/Debt

$8.8 billion / $10.1 billion

Dividend Yield

3.7%

Competitors

BP (NYSE: BP)

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A)

Other Highly Rated Oil and Gas Stocks

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)

PetroChina (NYSE: PTR)

EnCana (NYSE: ECA)

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

On CAPS, 95% of the 3,388 members who have rated Chevron believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include AjarnMichael and truthisntstupid.

Just last week, AjarnMichael brought the stock's solid fundamentals to our community's attention:

[Chevron] has a low amount of debt which allows it to keep a higher percentage of its revenue to fund future acquisitions and more importantly to a long term investor pay an increasing quarterly dividend. The current [dividend] yield ... is decent. ... I expect the demand for oil to rise as the economy improves which will bode well for integrated oil companies like Chevron.

In a pitch from last month, truthisntstupid expands on the slick income opportunity:

This company is very strong financially. I [doubt] whether Chevron will have any difficulty maintaining both its dividend AND its dividend growth rate. ... With an average dividend growth rate of at least 10%, the rule of 72 tells us that this dividend will double about every 7 years. ... With this in mind I could care less what it does next month or next year, as long as it maintains its dividend growth rate. This and other carefully chosen dividend growth stocks will generate significant dividend income in the long term regardless of what they do in the short term.

What do you think about Chevron, 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!