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3M (MMM) Stock Moves -0.04%: What You Should Know

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3M (MMM - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $124.58, moving -0.04% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.44%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.03%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had lost 0.04% over the past month. This has lagged the Conglomerates sector's gain of 5.34% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.22% in that time.

3M will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect 3M to post earnings of $2.41 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 4.33%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.13 billion, down 5.63% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $10.22 per share and revenue of $34.27 billion. These totals would mark changes of +0.99% and -3.06%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for 3M should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. 3M is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, 3M is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.19. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.47.

Investors should also note that MMM has a PEG ratio of 1.28 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Diversified Operations stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.84 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, putting it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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