3M (NYSE:MMM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $111.58.

Several research analysts recently commented on MMM shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 3M by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 377,703 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 3M by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 1,273.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $413,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,334 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

3M Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MMM opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. 3M has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $106.04. The company has a market cap of $56.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.18.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.01%.

3M Company Profile

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company's Safety and Industrial segment offers industrial abrasives and finishing for metalworking applications; autobody repair solutions; closure systems for personal hygiene products, masking, and packaging materials; electrical products and materials for construction and maintenance, power distribution, and electrical original equipment manufacturers; structural adhesives and tapes; respiratory, hearing, eye, and fall protection solutions; and natural and color-coated mineral granules for shingles.