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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 $149.47, marking a -0.66% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.71%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.27%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.14%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had lost 0.03% over the past month, lagging the Conglomerates sector's gain of 1.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.76% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from 3M as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect 3M to post earnings of $2.43 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 12.27%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.7 billion, down 1.69% from the prior-year quarter.

MMM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $10.32 per share and revenue of $36.09 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.98% and +2.09%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for 3M. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.71% lower. 3M is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, 3M is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.58. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.19.

We can also see that MMM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.54. 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. MMM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.45 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 60, putting it in the top 24% 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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