Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Brazilian electricity provider CPFL Energia (NYSE: CPL) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

CPFL facts

Headquarters (Founded) Sao Paulo, Brazil (1998)
Market Cap $11.8 billion
Industry Foreign utilities
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $6.5 billion
Management CEO/CFO Wilson Ferreira Jr.
Administrative Vice President Jose de Melo
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 27.6%
Cash/Debt $840.7 million / $4.68 billion
Dividend Yield 6.4%
Competitors AES (NYSE: AES)
Centrais Electricas Brasileiras (NYSE: EBR)

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

On CAPS, 99% of the 642 members who have rated CPFL believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star bobrobnc, who is ranked in the top 15% of our community, and StockTradingFool.

Less than two months ago, bobrobnc tapped CPFL as a misunderstood income opportunity: "Good growth, emerging market (Brazil), and an excellent dividend that the pundits keep saying can't continue (while I've collected on it in [real life] three times now)."

Although CPFL's high yield and payout ratio of 80% should certainly give investors some pause, our community remains confident about the company's total-return potential. Thanks to its sheer scale and monopoly like status in Brazil, CPFL's three-year average return on capital (12.9%) easily tops that of rivals AES (7.4%) and Centrais Electricas (2.5%), as well as other highly rated utilities like Duke (NYSE: DUK) (4.7%), Southern (NYSE: SO) (6.7%), and Entergy (NYSE: ETR) (7.1%). While that operational edge has helped CPFL's shares absolutely crush the market over the last five years, CAPS member StockTradingFool touches on why CPFL should continue to outperform:

CPFL is Brazil's largest non-state-owned utility company. It pays a dividend in excess of 6%, yet it is making huge investments in its distribution network to support the increasing energy needs of its customers. As the Brazilian economy continues to increase, those needs should skyrocket.

What do you think about CPFL, 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!