Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, railroad operator CSX (NYSE: CSX) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

CSX facts

Headquarters (founded)

Jacksonville, Fla. (1978)

Market Cap

$28.02 billion

Industry

Railroads

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$10.64 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Michael J. Ward (since 2003)

CFO Oscar Munoz (since 2003)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

16.3%

Cash/Debt

$1.35 billion / $8.66 billion

Dividend Yield

1.4%

Competitors

Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI)

Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC)

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP)

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,753 members who have rated CSX believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Alaskabackpacker and FoolishMikee.

Just last month, Alaskabackpacker tapped CSX as a particularly timely pick: "Great charts show a strong upward trend. Railroads should benefit from the inevitable rise in fuel prices, as they would not be hit as hard as trucking by $5 diesel prices."

Over the next five years, CSX is even expected to grow at a rate of 17% annually. That's slightly faster than railroad rivals CN Rail (14.6%), Norfolk Southern (14.5%), and Union Pacific (14.8%).

CAPS member FoolishMikee elaborates on the bull case:

The industry as a whole stands well against good and bad times, and CSX has rewarded its shareholders well throughout the past decade. Although CSX doesn't distribute the largest dividend of the group in the sector, its stands to outperform the S&P 500. Management is increasing efficiency, and on January 15th 2011, announced that "CSX Corporation will invest $2 billion to increase the quality, flexibility and capacity of its rail network", and future prospects look good as higher fuel hikes increase the attractiveness of railroads as opposed to the less efficient trucking as railroad rates are lower than those of trucks, and as CSX and NSC dominate the railroads in the East Coast.

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