3M focuses on its core products

Article Excerpt

3M COMPANY $164 (New York symbol MMM; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 575.3 million; Market cap: $94.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.3m.com) produces more than 60,000 items, including air purifiers, adhesives, bandages and components for medical devices. Its main brands include Post-it notes, Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite cleaning products, Scotchguard protection and Thinsulate insulation. The company will now sell its advanced ballistic-protection business for $91 million. Those operations make bullet-proof vests and helmets. Depending on the outcome of pending orders from law enforcement agencies, the buyer (Avon Rubber p.l.c.) will be required to pay an additional $25 million. 3M is still a buy. buy…