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3M (MMM) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, 3M (MMM - Free Report) closed at $164.40, marking a -0.08% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.51% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.36%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.75%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had gained 2.6% in the past month. In that same time, the Conglomerates sector gained 7.14%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.44%.

MMM will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.04, down 20.93% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.19 billion, up 0.5% from the prior-year quarter.

MMM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $9.32 per share and revenue of $32.23 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -10.9% and -1.64%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MMM should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MMM currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MMM currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.65. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.91, so we one might conclude that MMM is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that MMM has a PEG ratio of 1.86 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 1.86 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 41, putting it in the top 17% 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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