3M (NYSE:MMM) Receives Underperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

3M (NYSE:MMM)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $96.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 35.61% from the stock’s current price.

MMM has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

NYSE:MMM traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $149.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,622,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,535,650. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $152.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $81.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.73 and a 200-day moving average of $128.53.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,770,390 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 165,119 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,874,000 after buying an additional 10,309 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter worth about $387,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 9,160 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 105,867 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,819,000 after buying an additional 39,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.