Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, mortgage real estate investment trust Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Hatteras facts

Headquarters (founded)

Winston Salem, N.C. (2007)

Market Cap

$1.79 billion

Industry

Mortgage REITs

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$225.3 million

Management

Chairman/CEO Michael Hough

President/COO Benjamin Hough

Return on Equity (average, past 2 years)

17%

Total Debt

$14.9 billion

Dividend Yield

16.4%

Competitors

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY)

Anworth Mortgage Asset (NYSE: ANH)

Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO)

Source: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 94% of the 280 members who have rated Hatteras believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include B1ll1am and PhysicsRules.

Earlier this year, B1ll1am tapped Hatteras as a timely income opportunity: "As long as interest rates stay low, [mortgage REITs] will be very profitable and pay huge dividends. Interest rates should remain low for at least 2 more years as the Real Estate market is still under pressure."

Hatteras, in particular, sports a whopping dividend yield of 16.4%. That's slightly higher than that of competitors such as Annaly (15.2%), Anworth (14.2%), and Capstead (15.4%).

CAPS member PhysicsRules touches on the company's solid track record:

Hatteras Financial Services is a REIT throwing off dividends comparable to NLY. Smarter people than me can analyze their portfolios and decide if the stream remains stable. I can only speak from experience, I have owned 500 shares for several years now. The dividend shows up every quarter and now I find myself in the very weird position where the shares I hold have been paid for entirely with the dividend.

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