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3M (MMM) closed at $148.58 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.18% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.04%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.58%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.18%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had gained 0.47% over the past month. This has lagged the Conglomerates sector's gain of 5.77% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.67% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from 3M as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, 3M is projected to report earnings of $2.43 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 12.27%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.7 billion, down 1.69% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $10.32 per share and revenue of $36.09 billion, which would represent changes of +1.98% and +2.09%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for 3M should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.85% lower within the past month. 3M currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note 3M's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 14.38. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.11.

It is also worth noting that MMM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.51. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. MMM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.46 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.