Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, funeral service products specialist Hillenbrand (NYSE: HI) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

Hillenbrand facts

Headquarters (Founded) Batesville, Ind. (2007)
Market Cap $1.37 billion
Industry Personal services
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $749.2 million
Management

CEO Kenneth Camp (since 2008)

CFO Cynthia Lucchese (since 2008)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 33.8%
Cash/Debt $98.4 million / $403.4 million
Dividend Yield 3.5%
Competitors

Carriage Services (NYSE: CSV)

Matthews International (Nasdaq: MATW)

Stewart Enterprises (Nasdaq: STEI)

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

On CAPS, 98% of the 251 members who have rated Hillenbrand believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star Jeffreyw, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and tekennedy.

Late last year, Jeffreyw tapped Hillenbrand as a particularly steady pick: "Some things are immune to economic fluctuations, caskets may be one category."

Fools remain attracted to Hillenbrand's stable business model, juicy dividend yield, and attractive financials. In fact, Hillenbrand's three-year average operating margin of 22.8% tops close death-care foes Carriage's 16.2%, Matthews International's 14.8%, and Stewart's 13.1%, as well as non-traditional casket providers like discounting titans Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) at 5.9% and Costco (Nasdaq: COST) at 2.7%.

CAPS member tekennedy expanded on the outperform case last May:

This should be an extraordinarily stable company despite the slight declines in casket volumes due to an increase in cremations. ... I usually dislike a growth through acquisition as a strategy, especially into businesses unrelated to your core business, but I believe the [acquisition of K-Tron] was a smart one. The company has a stable business due to sales of replacement parts (which constitute a majority of revenue) which are higher margin. Although I believe Hillenbrand paid full price for the acquisition, further growth and the ability to pursue tuck in acquisitions should help Hillenbrand grow over time.

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