Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Chart Industries (Nasdaq: GTLS), has earned a coveted five-star ranking. The company makes equipment used in the production of hydrocarbon and industrial gas.

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

Chart Industries facts

Headquarters Garfield Heights, Ohio
Market Cap $1.9 billion
Industry Industrial machinery
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $847.8 million
Management Chairman/CEO Samuel Thomas
Vice President/CFO Michael Biehl
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 7.9%
Cash/Debt $242.5 million / $235.1 million
Competitors Matrix Service
Praxair

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 388 members who have rated Chart Industries believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those bulls, fellow Fool Thomas Engle (TMF1000), touched on the trends working in the company's favor:

The U.S has to transition itself away from dependence on foreign oil. Natural gas could be the replacement fuel. ...

[Chart Industries is] not trading at a cheap valuation. I placed it on CAPS as multi-decade idea. But analysts do expect them to do very well in the next five years. As more refueling stations are built, there will be need for more storage tanks that [Chart Industries] supplies. It is my hope that someday all vehicles will run on natural gas someday. The U.S has enough [natural gas] to last 200 years.

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