GE's Upside Greater And Safer Than 3M's

General Electric (GE) is currently rated near a "strong buy" on the Street while 3M (MMM) is rated a "hold." In an earlier article here, I expressed how the value of both companies are more or less properly valued by the market. Recent performance and macro trends have since rendered my outlook more bullish. Based on greater certainty surrounding fundaments and my DCF model, I find greater upside at GE.

From a multiples perspective, both firms appear to have little room for multiples expansion. 3M trades at a respective 14.7x and 12.7x past and forward earnings while GE trades at a respective 15.5x and 10.8x past and forward earnings. The latter has 60% more volatility than the broader market, but offers a higher dividend yield at 3.6%.

At the fourth quarter earnings call, 3M's CFO, David Meline, noted a strong close to the year but also some challenges.

We drove