Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, coal producer Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Peabody facts

Headquarters (founded) St. Louis (1883)
Market Cap $6.1 billion
Industry Coal and consumable fuels
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $8.3 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Gregory Boyce
Vice President/CFO Michael Crews
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 17%
Cash/Debt $952.4 million / $6.7 billion
Dividend Yield 1.5%
Competitors Arch Coal
BHP Billiton
CONSOL Energy

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 2,077 members who have rated Peabody believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, jspatel, succinctly summed up the bull case for our community:

[Peabody] is best of breed coal, with Australian operations that will likely cater to Asia's coal needs, while sporting a healthy balance sheet relative to its competitors which will help it ride out the storm while paying a 1.4% dividend that is safe (9% payout ratio). I don't think coal is going anywhere, global demand remains and natural gas will go back up in price here soon.

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Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.