Based on the aggregated intelligence of 145,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chemical products maker Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Sigma-Aldrich facts

Headquarters (Founded)

St Louis, Missouri (1951)

Market Cap

$6.4 billion

Industry

Specialty chemicals

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$2.1 billion

Management

Chairman and CEO Jai Nagarkatti
CFO Rakesh Sachdev

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

21.4%

Cash / Debt

$292.2 million / $569.0 million

Competitors

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO)
W.R. Grace (NYSE:GRA)

Component of

Powershares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQQ)

CAPS Members Bullish on SIAL Also Bullish on

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

CAPS Members Bearish on SIAL Also Bearish on

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)
Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)

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

On CAPS, 97% of the 286 members who have rated Sigma-Aldrich believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include RedDave and All-Star iamamartin.

In October, RedDave put personal expertise to use and examined the company:

Sigma Aldrich products are trusted dearly in the research community. Over and over again, I see publications that include a named reference for the chemical used and it's Sigma that is referenced. In our lab, when I really care about quality, it is Sigma I turn to.

In a pitch from late last year, iamamartin suggests how the company's dominance provides a litmus test for its stock's performance:

In a former life, I did a bit of Chemistry. This morning slurping my favourite hot-solvent extracted filtrate (that's coffee, people) I saw the symbol SIAL and Sigma Aldrich zip across the CNBC ticker. That's a blast from the past I've seen before and kept meaning to investigate. ... It's tied to life sciences and research chemistry. It's chemical catalog is practically an academic reference, any chemist knows if you can't buy it in the Sigma Aldrich catalog, you're going to have to hit the cookbooks to figure out how to make it yourself.

I've giving this stock the green thumb today in a difficulty market because my previous life tells me this company is going to be a steady earner whose earnings are going to be fairly solid.

What do you think about Sigma-Aldrich, 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!