3/21/2013

Will Increased Fracking Push This Company to New Heights?

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, ceramic proppants provider CARBO Ceramics (NYSE: CRR  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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

CARBO facts

Headquarters (founded)

Houston, Texas (1987)

Market Cap

$2.2 billion

Industry

Oil and gas equipment and services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$645.5 million

Management

CEO Gary Kolstad (since 2006)

CFO Ernesto Bautista III (since 2009)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

18.2%

Cash/Debt

$90.6 million / $0

Dividend Yield

1.1%

Competitors

Fairmount Minerals

Unimin

U.S. Silica Holdings

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

On CAPS, 94% of the 444 members who have rated CARBO believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, Googlespooch, succinctly summed up the CARBO bull case for our community:

Carbo Ceramics makes some of the best proppant in the entire industry. Unlike US Silica's sand-based proppant and Chinese low-quality sand/ceramic proppant, Carbo Ceramics makes ceramic proppant that is high in quality. In doing so, Carbo Ceramics improves the yields of the companies that it does business with (Halliburton and Schlumberger). This fact has started to greatly improve Carbo Ceramics' position with these and other drillers as drillers are starting to realize that Carbo Ceramics can provide them with a greater ROI. ...

It is very important to also consider that, while rig counts are currently depressed, they will not likely stay that way in the long run. Many experts are starting to figure that there will be a large economic boom resulting from the Bakken oil drilling as well as other American drilling. Resulting from this will be increased focus on oil plays and other liquid plays. As anyone will agree, a rising ocean lifts all boats ... and Carbo Ceramics is one of those lucky boats.

Making an investment in Carbo Ceramics protects the investor from the commodity prices of oil to some degree since all drillers will need proppant of some kind in order to continue fracking operations. Though rig count may increase or decrease, Carbo's products will still be needed regardless.

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

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

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