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

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

GE facts

   
Headquarters (Founded) Fairfield, Conn. (1892)
Market Cap $219.2 billion
Industry Industrial conglomerates
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $152.46 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Immelt
Vice Chairman/CFO Keith Sherin
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 11.9%
Cash/Debt $127.1 billion / $466.7 billion
Dividend Yield 2.9%
Competitors Honeywell International (NYSE: HON)
Siemens (NYSE: SI)
United Technologies (NYSE: UTX)

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

On CAPS, 93.5% of the 15,940 members who have rated GE believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Casey89 and davidm8797.

Less than two months ago, Casey89 listed several of GE's positives:

The brand name of GE along with its international presence in alternative energy only leaves room for growth. ... [Its] diversification of goods also makes it a stable purchase, there is a very good chance GE will be involved in the appliances of tomorrow, ones we can't imagine.

Currently, GE even sports a particularly paltry price-to-cash flow of 6.1. That represents a clear discount to fellow industrial conglomerates Honeywell (15.9), Siemens (8.8), and United Tech (13.5).

CAPS member davidm8797 expands on the GE investment case:

They brought electricity to the consumer in the 1900's, and they will help push us forward in the next century. Because they got it right in the early 1900's, I will give them a pass on this century. Anyways, they build plug and go nuclear reactors, wind mills, and every other piece of infrastructure that we will soon not even notice for its familiarity and omnipotence. They may also become America's first trillion dollar market cap company. But first, they've gotta get back to 500 bil.

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