The 3M Co (MMM) You Don’t Know

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3M is a full percentage point ahead of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) and surpasses Siemens AG (ADR) (NYSE:SI) by a hair. Going forward, in its hunger to innovate and increase revenue, 3M Co (NYSE:MMM) plans to push its R&D spending to over 6% annually. Increased R&D spending won’t necessarily yield more revenue — the company will have to continue to execute on monetizing its discoveries. But given 3M’s long history of extending products across its business segments, this may be one of the best areas of the company’s operations to fund risk.

What to do with this upstart
3M Co (NYSE:MMM) stock has marched steadily upward in the first half of 2013, gaining 17.7%, which exceeds the performance of the S&P 500 index by more than five percentage points. Depending on your investing horizon, it may be prudent to wait for a pullback before taking a position. But even at current pricing, it’s hard not to like this young, small, diversified, and hungry company: a steady portfolio choice that becomes more growth and future oriented with each passing business quarter.

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The article The 3M You Don’t Know originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Asit Sharma has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends 3M and owns shares of General Electric.

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