10 Best Defensive Stocks To Own For 2016

10 Best Defensive Stocks To Own For 2016: 3M Company(MMM)

3M Company, together with subsidiaries, operates as a diversified technology company worldwide. The company?s Industrial and Transportation segment offers tapes, coated and non-woven abrasives, adhesives, specialty materials, filtration products, energy control products, closure systems for personal hygiene products, acoustic systems products, and components and products that are used in the manufacture, repair, and maintenance of automotive, marine, aircraft, and specialty vehicles. Its Health Care segment provides medical and surgical supplies, skin health and infection prevention products, inhalation and transdermal drug delivery systems, dental and orthodontic products, health information systems, and food safety products. The company?s Display and Graphics offers optical film solutions for LCD electronic displays; computer screen filters; reflective sheeting for transportation safety; commercial graphics sheeting and systems; and mobile interactive solutions, includin g mobile display technology, visual systems products, and computer privacy filters. The company?s Consumer and Office segment provides office supply products, stationery products, construction and home improvement products, home care products, protective material products, certain consumer retail personal safety products, and consumer health care products. Its Safety, Security and Protection Services segment offers personal protection products, safety and security products, cleaning and protection products for commercial establishments, track and trace solutions, and roofing granules for asphalt shingles. The company?s Electro and Communications segment provides packaging and interconnection devices; fluids that are used in the manufacture of computer chips, and for cooling electronics and lubricating computer hard disk drives; high-temperature and display tapes; insulating mate! rials, including tapes and resins; and related items. The company was founded in 1902 and is base d in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Yesterday, 3M (MMM) provided earnings guidance and hiked it’s dividend, earning it ‘lots of love,’ says RBC analyst Deane Dray and team. The one problem: 3M’s valuation. They explain:

  Associated Press

  The well-attended Outlook meeting was highlighted by a healthy 20% dividend boost and mostly inline EPS guidance. 3M's high quality earnings story is in the perfect storm of sector risk today. It is unburdened with any oil business exposure and stands to benefit from lower input costs in 2015. Our concern centers on the priced-for-perfection valuation against a short-cycle mix, supporting our Underperform rating.

  MMM shares are trading at 19.4x 2015 EPS, a 21% relative P/E premium to peers and above the high-end of its (10%) to 15% historical relative P/E range. Our $155 price target assumes the shares trade at a 5% premium to our 18.0x target group multiple. Our SOP model implies a $150 share price, representing 3% downside including the dividend.

  Shares of 3M have gained 0.9% to $160.43 at 3:57 p.m.

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating on 3M company (NYSE: MMM) with a price target raised to $156 from a previous $148. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $148.79 before closing the day at $148.59, up 2.44 percent.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Why the massive rally? Chalk it up to solid earnings from some bellwether companies. Caterpillar (CAT), for instance, gained 4.6% this week after reporting surprisingly good results, while 3M (MMM) rose 8.1% following its own beat, and Microsoft (MSFT) advanced 5.7% this week after beating earnings and reporting that it was finally making a profit on its Surface tablet. Apple (AAPL), the biggest company in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, rose ! 7.7% afte! r the tech giant beat the Street’s earnings and revenue forecasts, and offered above-consensus guidance.

• [By ovenerio]

  In this article, let's take a look at 3M Company (MMM), a $90.04 billion market cap, diversified global company that operates as a diversified technology company with manufacturing operations in around 70 countries worldwide. I was impressed how the company survived the last U.S. recession, reducing working capital to increase free cash flow and remaining profitable.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/10-best-defensive-stocks-to-own-for-2016.html