3M Company (MMM)

3M has been hitten down over the past few months because of a disappointing quarter (to analysts). But think about it. Why make a huge fuss over one quarter of a company that has been around for more than 100 years, shown great results over that time, and for maybe 3-6 months a little slow-down in sales, the stock gets hammered. 3M won't be affected by this in the long-term, which is the thing to look at. The short-term results aren't the things to pay attention to for a company such as 3M. The sell-off has been overdone, and in the long-term the stock will recover.

MMM is not a value play at these prices, but it certainly offers a piece of mind to investors with more volatile stocks (like NUAN, SCSS, BLWD to name a few). It has a nice 2.8% yield and a little bit of cash per share. The only reason I am hesitant on becoming an investor myself is that it has a forward PE of 13 while the estimated 5 year growth rate is only 11%. When those two numbers become closer to being the same, or when the PE falls below the growth rate, I will invest my first 1/3. I think this is a smart investment in an environment where the Fed's actions could move the market this way and that without notice.

With the coming slow growth scenario in US market, and having manufacturing slowing down, S&P return should be lowered. But OTOH, 3M is a global business with their sales channel in all major market. From Morningstart:
"Profile
3M manufactures adhesive, coating, electronic, and health-care products. The firm operates in more than 200 countries (more than half of its sales come from outside the United States) and makes more than 55,000 products. Best known for its Post-it and Scotch brands, 3M offers a diverse array of items, ranging from dental products to brightness-enhancement films for electronic displays to reflective sheeting used on highway signs."

That should mitigate the risk of having a slower growth in US. And with 2.30% yield and having a lower PE than S&P this stock is better poised to outperform S&P 500.

3M has been one of the leaders in the chemical and industrial products realm for many decades. I would anticipate high returns with this company as the nanotechnology field develops further. A good accompaniment to Dow Chemical Company (DOW) for your portfolio.

3M is a divisifed manufactured company with a history of consistent earnings and a strong management team. The market overreacted to the Company's most recent quarterly earnings and have pushed the price of the steady beheamouth too low. Although the stock has already rebounded significantly, it is still relatively cheap to the market and rewards shareholders with a strong dividend yield of approximately 2.5%. Furthermore, 3M will be a direct beneficiary from a continuing falling dollar as the company generates over 60% of its revenues outside of the United States.

Profit margins, returns on equity and assets rising, and a stock price that has slumped recently spell opportunity to me. Plus, there's a decent dividend yield. I also love the creative culture this company has had -- it brought us the Post-it, after all.

3M has been undervalued for awhile now . . . some changes are finally proving that they've taken hold, and the share price is coming around.

i look 4 3m to inprove this summer i like this 1

Solid company that won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Strong ROA and ROE plus a nice little dividend. Seems like a fairly cheap entry point -- trailing PE is well at a discount from 10 year average.

This is one of the best managed businesses to securely place your money and grow. Philip pointed out at IV that several months ago it was available at a good price for long term investment.

Although the company is having some supply capacity issues, the fact remains that 3M does what is necessary to produce innovative, high quality products that are standard setters across a wide variety of product types. Personal contacts in manufacturing report they do not even consider competing products when a 3M product is available. 3M development specialists go out into the field and work alongside manufacturers to make sure they deisgn and produce the right product, the right way. A solid focus on quality is the way to build customer loyalty that lasts.

very well managed. undervalued

Investing in this company means an investment in innovation and diversification

Innovation: 55,000 products. Proud of its design excellence awards. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061221/20061221005074.html?.v=1, 487 patents.

Diversification: 60% of sales are foreign. Companies in 60 countries, sales in 200 countries.

Good results follow, maybe not every quarter but steady growth. A net margin high enough to weather a storm or two (15%), fueled by consistent reinvestment in R&D at 5% to 7% of sales over the years.

After having recently dropped many points from less than expected earnings in the second quarter of this year, 3M is near a bargain price. History shows that it has always been a "solid" stock that has paid a good dividend for decades.

MMM is well-diversified and international in scope. MMM is steady, reliable and inexpensive in today's market.

Should GE’s plastic unit change hands many of 3M’s specialized plastic products will have an opportunity to capture share from a reorganizing competitor. Regardless, the firms is well positioned to take advantage of global opportunities, capitalize on a softening US dollar and a potential flight to quality should the market consolidate.

A class act that fell today because it made the dreadful "mistake" of missing some analysts estimates. May fall a bit more short-term, but this company has proven itself time and time again as a consumer goods innovator and marketer.

Innovative, diversified company that does more business overseas than the US (~60-40 split). Stock beaten down to near 3 year low lately by 'Mr. Market' because earnings didn't meet analysts expectations for 2Q, mainly due to start-up costs at its optical-films business. This is a huge company, blips will happen. Add'l $1B in stock buybacks approved my Board announced 8/15 after original $2B already completed in past 18 months. Top-flight, and growing dividend.

Oh boy! 3M has great products and a large and loyal following especially among growing DIY population. This company is one I would hold for a long time.

Earnings are holding steady and should increase in the next several months.