Based on the aggregated intelligence of 130,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, mining company Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Silver Wheaton facts

Headquarters (founded)

Vancouver, Canada (1994)

Market Cap

 $1.854 billion

Industry

Silver

TTM Revenue

$166.7 million

Management

President/CEO Peter Barnes (since 2006)

CFO Gary Brown (since 2008)

Return on Equity (average, last three years)

11.3%

Competitors

Coeur d'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE)

Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS)

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

CAPS members bullish on SLW also bullish on:

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK)

Vale (NYSE:RIO)

CAPS members bearish on SLW also bearish on:

Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) 

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

Over on CAPS, 97% of the 1,530 members who have rated Silver Wheaton believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include FiatFaux and speedybure.

Last month, FiatFaux touched on Silver Wheaton's unique model as a purchaser of long-term silver contracts:

The Gold/Silver Ratio is already closing fast...
The Fed is printing trillions in paper "money".
[Silver Wheaton] skims the silver off top of miners all over.
The miners have no clue what silver will soon do.

In a pitch from two weeks ago, speedybure shares three reasons why silver is a solid bet:

1) MZM and M2 have doubled in the last 11 years and we continue to run the printing presses 24/7. All Commodities will move up, but silver is still considered "money" and has "industrial use" and will be in high demand.
2) The gold: silver historical ration is skewed, recently hovering between 67-75:1 as opposed to the 55:1 average over the last 30 years.
3) SLW will produce 30m oz by 2011, of which a significant amount will be realized via royalty streams. In other words they will generate enormous free cash flow due to lack of capital reinvestment requirements.

What do you think about Silver Wheaton, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 130,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.