Why Beam Looks Tasty for the Long Term

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, premium spirits specialist Beam (NYSE: BEAM  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Beam facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Deerfield, Ill. (1904)
Market Cap	$9.8 billion
Industry	Distillers and vintners
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$2.5 billion
Management	CEO Matthew Shattock (since 2011) CFO Robert Probst (since 2008)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)	5.8%
Cash / Debt	$365.7 million / $2.5 billion
Dividend Yield	1.5%
Competitors	Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF-A  ) Diageo (NYSE: DEO  )

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

On CAPS, 97% of the 179 members who have rated Beam believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, All-Star greedwhenfearful, succinctly summed up the Beam bull case for our community:

[A] simple, high margin business model that's consumed daily worldwide that I'm a big fan of. About a year ago BEAM was spun off from Fortune Brands to be a pure-play spirits company. That means I get focus, strong brands (Jim Beam, Skinny Girl, Courvoisier, Pucker, Maker's Mark, Pinnacle, etc.) a small market cap ($9.8 billion), with a 1.46% [dividend yield] that I believe will be constantly raised throughout the decades as the company grows and compounds.

If you want market-topping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite its four-star rating, Beam 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.

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