3M (NYSE:MMM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.73

3M (NYSE:MMM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given 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 1.93%. This is a boost 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 32.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect 3M to earn $8.33 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 33.6%.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $151.41. The stock had a trading volume of 127,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,344,420. The company has a market capitalization of $82.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.93. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its 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. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. The trade was a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MMM shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.