Based on the aggregated intelligence of 165,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, electrical products maker Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Emerson facts

Headquarters (Founded)

St. Louis (1890)

Market Cap

$34.3 billion

Industry

Electrical components and equipment

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$20.6 billion

Management

CEO David Farr (since October 2000)

CFO Frank Dellaquila (since February 2010)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

23.6%

Cash/Debt

$2.2 billion / $5.9 billion

Dividend Yield

3%

Competitors

ABB (NYSE: ABB)

General Electric (NYSE: GE)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 98% of the 1,168 members who have rated Emerson believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include oohaeagle and All-Star rd80, who is ranked in the top 1% of our community.

Early this year, oohaeagle tapped Emerson as an electric opportunity to go global: "It is about time for commercial and industrial cycle to go through a refresh. [Emerson] has good exposure to emerging markets."

Over the past few years, Emerson has, indeed, been busy looking outside of the U.S. as its next major source of growth. Earlier this month, for example, Emerson's attempts to buy British power supply systems maker Chloride ended in success after rival ABB finally dropped out of the bidding process. The $1.5 billion purchase is just the latest of several bets Emerson has made to expand its network power all over the world. Of course, with Emerson's stock currently trading at a forward P/E premium to ABB and especially to its other close competitor, behemoth General Electric, Mr. Market might already be discounting that growth potential.

Nevertheless, CAPS All-Stars like rd80 believe that Emerson's consistency is truly worth paying up for:

[Emerson] is an engineering and electrical products company offering a wide range of products and services. The business segments are:
Process Management
Industrial Automation
Network Power
Climate Technologies
Appliance and Tools

The company has a track record of more than 50 years of increased dividend payouts and has been profitable through the recent downturn.

The stock looks expensive at 18 times 2010 earnings estimates, but this is a cyclical company and earnings should jump once the economy turns up. In the mean time, investors get paid a decent dividend to wait.

What do you think about Emerson, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!