3M Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 (NYSE:MMM)

3M (NYSE:MMM) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the conglomerate on Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%.

3M has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.7% per year over the last three years. 3M has a payout ratio of 35.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect 3M to earn $7.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.4%.

3M Price Performance

NYSE MMM traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $126.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,941,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,903,628. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $141.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.73. The stock has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total transaction of $700,635.50. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,486,484.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.27.

About 3M

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.