Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and natural gas producer Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE: HNR) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Harvest Natural facts

Headquarters (founded) Houston, Texas (1988)
Market Cap $350.3 million
Industry Oil and gas exploration and production
Trailing-12-Month EBITDA ($87.0 million)
Management CEO James Edmiston (since 2005)
CFO Stephen Haynes (since 2008)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 2.7%
Cash/Debt $28.8 million / $15.6 million
Competitors Dana Petroleum
Premier Oil
Sterling Energy

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

On CAPS, 95% of the 511 members who have rated Harvest Natural believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last month, one of those Fools, All-Star TMFDeej, tapped the stock as a particularly juicy, but speculative, opportunity:

I don't usually engage in [merger arbitrage] situations here in CAPS or in real life, but [Harvest Natural] is selling a huge chunk of [Venezuela assets] and if the deal goes through (which is by no means a certainty) the stock will likely pop to $12 to $13 per share. If not, ouch. The spread here is massive enough to play in CAPS.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, Harvest Natural may not be your top choice.

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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.