Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, industrial fastener maker Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Fastenal facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Winona, Minn. (1967)

Market Cap

$5.54 billion

Industry

Trading companies and distributors

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$2.13 billion

Management

CEO Willard Oberton (since 2002)
CFO Daniel Florness (since 2002)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

22.7%

Cash / Debt

$174.6 million / $0

Dividend Yield

2.0%

Competitors

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW)
MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)

CAPS Members Bullish on FAST Also Bullish on

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CAPS Members Bearish on FAST Also Bearish on

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL)
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF)

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

On CAPS, 95% of the 835 members who have rated Fastenal believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include valuegal and TMFmrquakeroats.

Just last week, valuegal advised Fools to fasten Fastenal for the long haul:

Thrifty management, supplying fasteners over and over to business. Recurring profits, from supplying needed good with great attention to customer service. Plain hard work day in and day out encouraged by the compensation system. I wanted to own it for years but the multiple was too high.

In a pitch from two days ago, TMFmrquakeroats elaborates:

[Fastenal] is an awesome growth story in the making. In a recent interview on CNBC (in 2008), Warren Buffett had positive things to say about Fastenal's CEO.

Fastenal is mid-cap stock that operates in a [$100 billion plus] industry. Generates good returns on capital and has a long runway for growth. Their growing store network gives them a competitive advantage by giving customers better access to products, unlike competitor MSC Industrial Direct..., although I do think [MSC] is a good outperform call as well.

What do you think about Fastenal, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!