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

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3M (MMM - Free Report) closed at $193.44 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.67% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.03%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had lost 3.13% over the past month. This has lagged the Conglomerates sector's gain of 3% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.02% in that time.

MMM will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect MMM to post earnings of $2.45 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 0.82%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.92 billion, up 6.79% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $10.11 per share and revenue of $35.38 billion. These totals would mark changes of +15.68% and +9.92%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MMM should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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 is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that MMM has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.26 right now. This valuation marks a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.26.

Meanwhile, MMM's PEG ratio is currently 2.03. 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 1.9 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 50, which puts it in the top 20% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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