Nomura Securities Maintains a 'Reduce' on 3M (MMM); Raising Estimates as Negative Catalysts Gone

Nomura Securities maintains a 'Reduce' on 3M (NYSE: MMM) price target raised to $90.00.

Analyst, Shannon O'Callaghan, said, "M’s cost reduction efforts are working with a big margin beat vs our estimate in the quarter (21.8% vs our 20.4%). Organic volume growth was still weak at 0.1% with a price of 1.7% driving the modest 1.8% organic revenue growth (about in line with our 2% estimate). Guidance increased to $6.35-$6.50 vs the prior $6.25-$6.50. The 1Q margin beat is clearly strong and shows solid cost execution as well as price, although this is offset by the flat volume, which is still tough for 3M’s organic growth driven story. New management sounds open to a more balanced earnings model, which we would welcome, but specifics or commitments are not yet known. We raise our 2012/13 EPS estimates to $6.40/$6.90 and our price target to $90 based on 13x our 2013 EPS estimate."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on 3M click here. For more ratings news on 3M click here.

Shares of 3M closed at $88.49 yesterday.

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