Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE: AA) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Alcoa facts

Headquarters (Founded)

New York (1888)

Market Cap

$16.9 billion

Industry

Aluminum

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$22.1 billion

Management

CEO Dr. Klaus-Christian Kleinfeld (since 2008)
CFO Charles McLane, Jr. (since 2007)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

(0.3%)

Cash/Debt

$910 million / $9.3 billion

Dividend Yield

0.8%

Competitors

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP)
Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO)
Vale (NYSE: VALE)

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

On CAPS, 93% of the 3,325 members who have rated Alcoa believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star buffalonate, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community, and axemanarthur.

Just last month, buffalonate touched on a clear tailwind working in Alcoa's favor: "I think aluminum demand will increase substantially in the future because the automobile industry is focusing on lightweighting to get better gas mileage. Doing so will require the use of much more aluminum."

Over the next five years, in fact, Alcoa is expected to grow its bottom line at a brisk rate of 19% annually. That's faster than competitors like BHP (16%), Rio Tinto (10%), and Vale (7%).

CAPS member axemanarthur expands on the Alcoa outperform argument:

This is a good play on the recovery economy as it provides aluminum for all the major industries that will be coming back ... i.e. trucking, auto, aircraft etc. ... all of whom have aging products and take aluminum to make. This company also is historically at 30 dollars per share and will go back to that level eventually. Another reason it's a "safe" pick is that it has streamlined it business model and has just started up more smelters which is a sign of an impending recovery.

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