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

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3M (MMM - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $157.48, moving +1.11% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.66%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.38%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had lost 12.32% over the past month, lagging the Conglomerates sector's loss of 10.2% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.01% in that time.

MMM will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.57, down 0.39% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.19 billion, up 0.5% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $9.28 per share and revenue of $32.23 billion, which would represent changes of -11.28% and -1.64%, respectively, from the prior year.

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.

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.

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 has moved 0.7% lower. MMM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note MMM's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 16.78. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.82, which means MMM is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that MMM has a PEG ratio of 1.77 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MMM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.74 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 16, which puts it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MMM in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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