3M (NYSE:MMM) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.73 Per Share

3M (NYSE:MMM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.73 per share by the conglomerate on Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70.

3M has decreased its dividend by an average of 15.2% per year over the last three years. 3M has a dividend payout ratio of 34.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect 3M to earn $8.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.1%.

3M Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $150.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.25. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $81.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MMM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 3M has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

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.