MMM
3M Company, New York symbol MMM, makes over 55,000 consumer and industrial products, including Post-it notes, Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite cleaning products, Scotchguard fabric protection and Thinsulate insulation.
3M is one of the large cap stocks we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that recommends stocks for the part of your portfolio you devote to U.S. investments.
In the three months …read more »
CEDAR FAIR L.P. $20 (www.cedarfair.com) lost $31.6 million, or $0.57 a unit, in 2010, mainly due to $98.1 million in charges related to the early repayment of debt and a writedown of fixed assets. In 2009, it earned $35.4 million, or $0.63 a unit. Revenue in 2010 rose 6.7%, to a record $977.6 million from $916.1 million, thanks to a …read more »
3M COMPANY $87 (New York symbol MMM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 713.1 million; Market cap: $62.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.4%; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is taking advantage of the slow economy to buy other, related firms. So far in 2010, it has made eight purchases. The company usually buys smaller companies that …read more »
Big companies like GE and 3M are examples of “GNP (Gross National Product) stocks”. Because they are already huge and sell to a wide variety of customers, investors feel their earnings growth may only match the growth of the overall economy.
However, both GE and 3M successfully restructured their businesses during the recession. The resulting cost cuts should push their …read more »
3M COMPANY $74 (New York symbol MMM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 698.3 million; Market cap: $51.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is a diversified manufacturing firm. The company was formerly known as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing.
3M owns a large number of well-known brands. Post-it notes, Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite household-cleaning products, Scotchguard protection …read more »
U.S. industrial production fell 1.1% in May, and by 0.4% in June, but swung to a 1.0% gain in July. Production slipped slightly in August, but was still positive, at 0.8%. That’s good news for 3M. Because of its large product line (it makes over 55,000 different items), the company’s earnings and share price tend to reflect U.S. manufacturing activity. …read more »
3M COMPANY $47 (New York symbol MMM) has temporarily stopped buying back its shares in order to conserve cash. However, 3M raised its quarterly dividend by 2%, to $0.51 a share from $0.50. The new annual rate of $2.04 yields 4.3%. 3M has increased its dividend each year for the past 51 years. Buy.
T. ROWE PRICE GROUP INC. $24 (NASDAQ …read more »
3M COMPANY $69 (New York symbol MMM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 669.0 million; Market cap: $46.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is one of the world’s largest industrial companies and is an example of the kind of blue chip stocks that can pay off for investors. It makes over 50,000 products in six main areas: …read more »
Washington Mutual Inc. recently cut its quarterly dividend, from $0.15 a share to $0.01. It now yields just 0.4%. The company needs to conserve capital in the face of rising loan losses and writedowns of mortgage-backed securities. As well, telephone directory publisher Idearc Inc. suspended its $1.37 dividend due to slowing advertising revenue.
Consequently, we’re moving Washington Mutual and Idearc from …read more »
3M COMPANY $85 (New York symbol MMM) expects its earnings before special items will rise from $4.95 a share to $5.45 a share in 2008, or about 10%. The stock trades at 15.6 times the 2008 estimate. Most of the gain will come from 3M’s international operations, which supply two-thirds of its revenue. The company’s large overseas operations will also …read more »
