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3M (MMM) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, 3M (MMM - Free Report) closed at $204.34, marking a +1.82% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.3%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.95%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had gained 5.73% in the past month. In that same time, the Conglomerates sector lost 3.22%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.21%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MMM as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be January 24, 2019. In that report, analysts expect MMM to post earnings of $2.28 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 8.57%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.98 billion, down 0.07% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.95 per share and revenue of $32.85 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.51% and +3.77%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MMM. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% lower. MMM is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that MMM has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.17 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.89, so we one might conclude that MMM is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that MMM has a PEG ratio of 1.98 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MMM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.83 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 104, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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