Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, discount-warehouse giant Costco Wholesale (Nasdaq: COST) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Costco facts

Headquarters (Founded) Issaquah, Wash. (1976)
Market Cap $32.36 billion
Industry Hypermarkets and super centers
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $79.89 billion
Management

Co-Founder/CEO James Sinegal

CFO Richard Galanti
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 12.8%
Dividend Yield 1.1%
Competitors

BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ)

Target (NYSE: TGT)

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 4,035 members who have rated Costco believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include DigitalPaladine and All-Star Gordogato, who is ranked in the top 20% of our community.

Late last year , DigitalPaladine tapped Costco as a rather excellent opportunity: "I spend more money in that store than any other establishment. Excellent products, Excellent service, Excellent prices. Great business model. Lots of corporate customers. ... [E]xcellent reputation."

Over the next five years, Costco is expected to grow its bottom line at a 13.3% annual pace. That's faster than warehouse foes BJ's (10.4%) and Wal-Mart (10.7%), as well as single category competitors like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) (11.4%), Kroger (NYSE: KR) (8.8%), and Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) (11%).

CAPS All-Star Gordogato elaborates on the growth prospects:

Costco has tremendous customer loyalty and they are still expanding to new areas in the US and internationally. Look for coming "in-fill" expansion into new spaces in urban and inner suburb areas. ... Membership turnover rates are very low, and the stores are pushing membership level upgrades to earn more in member fees. The company has excellent management and treats employees, customers, and shareholders well.

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