Based on the aggregated intelligence of 125,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Patriot Coal (NYSE:PCX) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Patriot Coal facts

Headquarters

St. Louis, Missouri

Market Cap

$312.6 million

Industry

Coal and consumable fuels

TTM Revenue

$1.65 billion

Management

CEO Richard Whiting

CFO Mark Schroeder

TTM Return on Equity

33.2%

Competitors

Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI)

Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE)

CAPS members bullish on PCX also bullish on

PotashCorp (NYSE:POT)

Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

CAPS members bearish on PCX also bearish on

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS)

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

Over on CAPS, 521 of the 543 members who have rated Patriot Coal -- or 96% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include trexmoney and checklist34.

Last month, trexmoney tapped Patriot as an inexpensive way to play coal: "Coal is not going anywhere. [Patriot Coal] is so cheap based on their known reserves. ... They have proven reserves of 1.9 billion tons, if you use the cheapest coal price ... you can see that is company is way undervalued."

In a more recent pitch from last week, checklist34 follows that bullish line of thinking:

[Patriot Coal] is a bit different than many of my picks in that its a new stock without a long history. ... But that noted, the valuation is compelling and the future of coal isn't sooty. The world's economy will still grow rapidly from now until 201X 202X and so forth and coal will be a big part of that growth. The challenges [Patriot Coal] have faced are priced into this dirt cheap stock.

What do you think about Patriot Coal, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 125,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.