5 Boring Stocks That Make Money

3. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 54

Trailing 12 Month Net Income: $6.58 billion

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) has its hands in many pies, but the company is most known for producing Post-It notes, Scotch tape, and defective ear plugs. The company’s growth has been pretty tepid over the last few years and it’s currently embroiled in a potentially very costly legal battle over its aforementioned ear plugs. One thing the company does have going for it is its penchant for making money. It’s pulled in at least $4.57 billion in net income over each of the last four years.

Hedge fund ownership of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) has jumped by 31% over the past two quarters to approach its all-time high. David Harding’s Wnton Capital built a new MMM stake during Q2, while Israel Englander’s Millennium Management raised its position by 72% during the quarter to 754,557 shares.

Mayar Capital recently bought back into 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) and discussed the company’s attractive revenue streams and margins in the fund’s Q2 2022 investor letter:

“We also bought back into 3M (NYSE:MMM) as the stock reached attractive levels. We’d sold our shares in 3M last year when the price exceeded our estimated fair value, and as better opportunities to invest in presented themselves at the time. Nonetheless, we’ve always liked this business with its diversified revenues, its R&D leadership and its stable margins.