Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas explorer TransAtlantic Petroleum (AMEX: TAT) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

TransAtlantic facts

Headquarters (founded) Dallas (1985)
Market Cap $903.67 million
Industry Oil and gas exploration and production
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $85.56 million
Management

CEO Matthew McCann (since 2009)

COO Gary Mize (since 2010)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) (35.2%)
Cash/Debt $34.68 million / $136.75 million

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

On CAPS, 98% of the 162 members who have rated TransAtlantic believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include JohnLamb999 and All-Star txtanner, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community.

Late last month, JohnLamb999 touched on the TransAtlantic opportunity: "Natural gas play based in largely unexplored territory of Turkey and to some extent Romania and Morocco. The company is substantially owned by management who have a track record of building companies from the ground up."

Over the past three years, in fact, TransAtlantic has grown its top line at a whopping rate of 407.9% annually. Of course, that's much faster than larger, more established natural gas plays such as Apache (NYSE: APA) and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), both of which weigh in with 6.3% annual revenue growth, not to mention Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) and its 2.9% average annual drop in revenue over the same time period.

CAPS All-Star txtanner expands on the outperform argument:

Top management team with proven record of success drilling domestically, primarily in West Texas. Now applying their proven methods to larger and more virgin fields in Europe, where costs are lower, energy prices higher and competition is thin. Chairman of the Board and major shareholder, Malone Mitchell III is analogous to a young Boone Pickens. This stock has great upside potential.

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