Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, leaf tobacco merchant Alliance One International (NYSE:AOI) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Alliance One facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Morrisville, N.C. (1904)

Market Cap

$439.6 million

Industry

Tobacco

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$2.21 billion

Management

CEO Robert Harrison (since 2007)
CFO Robert Sheets (since 2008)

Trailing-12-Month Return on Equity

46.2%

Cash/Debt

$67.6 million/$1.09 billion

Other Highly Rated Tobacco Stocks

Altria (NYSE:MO)
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)
Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI)

CAPS Members Bullish on AOI Also Bullish on

General Electric (NYSE:GE)

CAPS Members Bearish on AOI Also Bearish on

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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

On CAPS, 97% of the 71 All-Star members who have rated Alliance One believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Ayax2006 and "All-Star" pick complier AllStarPortfolio, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.

Just last month, Ayax2006 advised Fools to inhale the opportunity: "Tobacco industry, attractive valuation. Revenues should continue to grow and as long as the company pays down debt it will probably offer good returns."

In a pitch from three days later, AllStarPortfolio (using a pick and pitch from kaskoosek) took an even longer draw. Here's an excerpt:

You can directly realize that this company is hugely undervalued by looking at their financial ratios. p/e, p/b and ev/ebitda are all very attractive. …

It is important to understand the macro environment we are living in before investing. Let me say that tobacco is first a recession proof industry, so even if they have a high debt load it is easily serviceable, because revenues are going to be always there.

Another important caveat is the weakness in the dollar and the expected inflation rate in the future. Buying this company will offer great rewards exactly due to the high debt load, and since everyone will keep on smoking, whatever the inflation rate this actually makes [Alliance One] pretty safe.

What do you think about Alliance One, 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!