3M Company Shares Down 1% on Outlook

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) anticipates revenue and profit growth in 2010, that's good enough to keep MMM shares only falling less than 1% today.

3M projects 2010 earnings of between $4.85 and $5 per share. It expects sales of between $24.5 billion and $25.5 billion, with organic sales growth of 5 to 7 percent and currency gains of 2 to 3 percent.

Those estimates are on par with Wall Street’s expectations. On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are projecting a profit of $4.94 per share on $24.46 billion.

However, 3M also reaffirmed its 2009 guidance, which calls for earnings of between $4.30 and $4.35 per share, or between $4.50 and $4.55 per share excluding special items. Analysts have projected a profit of $4.57 per share.

During the past 6 months 3M company shares have increased 27% and consider they still pay out a 51 Cent dividend every quarter.