Dream Stocks for Value Investors

Investors are always hunting for the next big stock -- the dream stock whose price increases several times over when the market finally discovers it. It's easy to look back and discover the 10 best stocks of the past decade. But I'm more interested in the tools that can help me evaluate tomorrow's greatest companies.

Motley Fool CAPS offers a variety of resources to aid Fools in finding tomorrow's leaders. Our 165,000-member community is full of investors helping each other beat the market.

We'll enlist CAPS to screen for companies that have been beaten down into value territory, then get the story behind some of its more highly rated stocks. CAPS' nifty screener will help us find stocks with:

• A market cap of at least $1 billion.
• A long-term debt-to-equity ratio of less than .5.
• A current ratio of at least 1.
• A price-to-earnings ratio of less than 15.

Then we'll tap the collective intelligence of our CAPS members to see whether these companies present real opportunities -- or whether the numbers fail to tell the true story.

Opinions with the numbers
Below is a sample of stocks our screen returned.

Data and star rankings from CAPS as of July 2.

Noble
"Force majeure" has become a popular term among oil companies looking to get out of their rig contracts in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill -- in both the deep water areas affected by the crippling government moratorium and shallow drills as well. Chevron cited force majeure in a contract dispute with Hercules Offshore (Nasdaq: HERO) and Apache (NYSE: APA) declared it to Rowan as well. 

While Noble is working through some force majeure claims from some of its own customers, investors have recently been heartened by more positive news of its deal to buy Frontier Drilling and its new drilling contracts with Royal Dutch Shell. The deal will boost its rig count and tack on several billion dollars to its backlog, and an overwhelming majority of CAPS members continue to maintain their bullish call on the five-star stock with roughly 99% of the 2,265 CAPS members rating Noble expecting it to outperform the broader market.

Walgreen
While peer Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) posted falling sales and another loss in its most recent quarter, Walgreen saw top-line growth even though profit was negatively affected by still-weak discretionary spending. Despite higher costs being a drag on earnings this quarter, management is optimistic on future earnings growth and is upbeat on the progress of its integration of its Duane Reade acquisition, expecting over $100 million in costs savings over the next several years. Investors were relieved when Walgreen resolved its dispute with CVS Caremark, and CAPS members like the opportunity the current economic environment is presenting and see long-term potential in the company. As such, 94% of the 1,996 CAPS members rating Walgreen are bullish on the stock.

Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments recently raised its second-quarter guidance thanks to broad-based demand with particular strength in the industrial sector, and it isn't the only one that sees the strength in semiconductors continuing. Research firm Gartner recently revised its 2010 global chip sales number higher and the bullish tone is reflected among others in the sector as competitor Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) expects double-digit percentage revenue and income increases over the next several years. With good momentum behind its business and a valuation that reeks of cheap, many CAPS members maintain a bullish outlook on Texas Instruments -- about 93% of the 1,553 members rating Texas Instruments expect it to outperform the market.

Let 165,000 members be the jury
The collective wisdom of a huge pool of investors can help give context to a page of numbers from a stock screen. But individual investors are still the best judges of what to do with their own money. Fools should always perform their own due diligence.

Happily, it's easy to chime in with your own opinion. If you agree that these companies present dream opportunities -- or see more of a nightmare instead -- simply scroll down and add your thoughts in the comments box.