Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, offshore drilling giant Transocean (RIG -2.29%) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Transocean facts

 

 

Headquarters (founded)

Vernier, Switzerland (1953)

Market Cap

$17.9 billion

Industry

Oil and gas drilling

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$9.3 billion

Management

CEO Steven Newman

CFO Esa Ikaheimonen

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

(7.5%)

Cash/Debt

$3.7 billion / $11.2 billion

Dividend Yield

4.5%

Competitors

Ensco

Noble 

Saipem

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

On CAPS, 98% of the 6,064 members who have rated Transocean believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, TempoAllegro, tapped Transocean as a particularly attractive bargain opportunity:

Transocean is an experienced, worldwide underwater oil driller still available at a discount. It has a large enough footprint in this industry to weather just about any storm, and deepwater drilling won't get done without experienced operators like Transocean (RIG).

Of course someone investing in Transocean needs to be aware of the ongoing drag of potential liabilities for the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, however, it can be safely assumed that Transocean would have been the last to want to see its rig sunk and its men killed. While the legal cases are ongoing, logically, one would think the owner of the field that pushed to stay on schedule, possibly at the risk of overlooking safety concerns – the same company that has already offered to pay the lion's share of the cleanup costs – would bear most of the responsibility. Or the other company that did not properly seal the cement casing on the well that caused the blowout would be more liable. No matter how you slice it, Transocean did not want this to happen and more of the blame will likely fall on its partners. With this in mind, shares are artificially depressed, and will eventually bounce back.