Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, department store operator J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

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

J.C. Penney facts

Headquarters (founded)

Plano, Texas (1902)

Market Cap

$4.3 billion

Industry

Department stores

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$14.5 billion

Management

CEO Ronald Johnson (since 2011)
CFO Kenneth Hannah (since 2012)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

(0.8%)

Cash / Debt

$525.0 million / $3.0 billion

Competitors

Kohl's (NYSE:KSS)Macy's (NYSE:M)Sears, Roebuck and Co.

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

On CAPS, 34% of the 975 members who have rated J.C. Penney believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, All-Star BuyingRetail, succinctly summed up the J.C. Penney bear case for our community:

Expect 4th QTR at [J.C. Penney] to disappoint the street. Comps will not look good until they are up against the really awful numbers from 2012. This pick is short term for me but with only 40% of the floor converted by the end of 2013, I honestly don't expect things to improve on a permanent basis until 2015 when the transformation is complete (if they can hold out that long.)

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

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.