Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, shallow-water oil and gas driller Hercules Offshore (Nasdaq: HERO) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Hercules facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Houston (2004)

Market Cap

$862.4 million

Industry

Oil and gas drilling

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$672.9 million

Management

CEO John Rynd (since 2008)

CFO Stephen Butz (since 2010)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

(33.3%)

Cash/Debt

$163 million / $859.9 million

Competitors

Noble Energy (NYSE: NE)

Transocean (NYSE: RIG)

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,682 members who have rated Hercules believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star imajerbear, who is ranked in the top 1% of our community, and FAOFool.

Late last month, imajerbear tapped Hercules as a particularly timely pick: "With oil holding at 100+ with no good reason to think it will tank any time any time soon, the race is on to find more. Companies like HERO are sure to do well in this environment."

Over the next five years, in fact, Hercules is expected to grow its bottom line at a solid rate of 15% annually. That's faster than much larger drillers like Noble (11.4%), Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) (5.0%), and Transocean (10.5%).

CAPS member FAOFool elaborates on the Hercules bull case:

The Gulf of Mexico still has oil in it. This company worked in the Gulf prior to the spill, and they will continue to work in there. The demand for oil will only go down when it becomes more economical to use other forms of energy ... and we just are not where we need to be yet. HERO has a few decades to make some money.

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