Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000 investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, energy services giant National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

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

National Oilwell facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Houston (1862)

Market Cap

$28.75 billion

Industry

Oil & Gas Equipment & Services

TTM Revenue

$11.25 billion

Management

CEO Merrill Miller (since 2001)
CFO Clay Williams (since 2005)

Return on Equity (avg. last three years)

15.9%

CAPS members bullish on NOV also bullish on

Transocean (NYSE:RIG)
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX)
PotashCorp (NYSE:POT)

CAPS members bearish on NOV also bearish on

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)
DryShips (NASDAQ:DRYS)
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, 486 of the 496 All-Star members who have rated National Oilwell -- some 98% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include JDSancho and JSB8000, both of whom are ranked in the top 5% of our community.

In June, JDSancho reminded fellow investors of National Oilwell's "Monopoly on drilling rig manufacturing ... demand for oil, regardless of it's daily price, is not diminishing over the long term, and [National Oilwell] will profit handsomely."

JSB800's pitch in March shared that bullish sentiment, stressing the stock's long-term tailwinds:

The world is currently using oil twice as fast as we're discovering it, and that bodes extremely well for companies like National Oilwell Varco that make equipment used by both land and offshore drillers. The tremendous boom in world-wide drilling, especially in offshore deep wells, is flowing directly to [National Oilwell]'s bottom line. ...

Given the production decline curves of all the world's large oil fields, drilling is likely to increase dramatically over the next five to ten years, and [National Oilwell] is ideally positioned to benefit. In addition, the great majority of the world's existing offshore rigs are now over 20 years old; and, as National Oilwell's CEO remarked in a recent earnings conference call, "Rust never sleeps..."

What do you think about National Oilwell, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 115,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.