Why Hercules Offshore Is Poised to Keep Soaring

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, shallow-water oil and gas driller Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ: HERO  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Hercules facts

Headquarters (founded)	Houston (2004)
Market Cap	$1.2 billion
Industry	Oil and gas drilling
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$771.8 million
Management	CEO John Rynd (since 2008) CFO Stephen Butz (since 2010)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	(10.1%)
Cash/Debt	$169.4 million / $866.1 million
Competitors	Noble Energy Transocean

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

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,614 members who have rated Hercules believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.   

Just last week, one of those bulls, Googlespooch, succinctly summed up the Hercules bull case for our community:

I've personally owned this company for years, however, I think its future is now brighter than it has ever been in the time that I've owned it. With all of these good acquisitions, the company is positioning itself well to face the realities of oil extraction in the coming era of hard-to-find liquids. In addition, the company may even start to become positive in its earnings and has already had one successful quarter.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, Hercules may not be your top choice.

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