Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas company Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Marathon facts

Headquarters (founded) Houston (1887)
Market Cap $24.88 billion
Industry Integrated oil and gas
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $63.52 billion
Management

CEO Clarence Cazalot Jr. (since 2002)

CFO Janet Clark (since 2004)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 11.5%
Cash/Debt $1.64 billion / $7.94 billion
Dividend Yield 2.9%
Competitors

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)

Sunoco (NYSE: SUN)

BP (NYSE: BP)

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,517 members who have rated Marathon believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Stars imajerbear and Staka, both of whom are ranked in the top 2% of our community.

Earlier this year, imajerbear tapped Marathon as a great stock for the long run:

Energy is one of the long term places to be. I feel that we are 15 to 20 years out from alt energy making significant inroads on oil and gas usage. Barring a global meltdown, oil can only go up from here. Too many people not enough energy.

Marathon has made nice progress in transforming from a downstream operator to a fully integrated oil and gas company over the past few years, but Mr. Market doesn't seem willing to give it any credit. Thanks to industry-lagging price performance, Marathon currently trades at a forward P/E (7.8) discount to close foes Conoco (9.5) and Sunoco (14.9), as well as integrated gorillas like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) (11.2) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (8.9).

CAPS All-Star Staka sums up the Marathon bull case:

- Close to tangible book
- Dividend
- No insider selling
- Value energy play worth to be recommended for another year!

What do you think about Marathon, 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!