There's no point sugar-coating things: Industrial giant and Dow member 3M (NYSE: MMM) is dealing with hard times these days. The performance of the business isn't the biggest issue, however -- it's the legal cases working through the courts that have investors so upset. Add in the negative sentiment of a bear market and the stock price has plunged, pushing the dividend yield up to more than 5%. That makes 3M look very attractively priced, historically speaking.

The headline-grabbing news around 3M of late has been the company's efforts to defend itself against lawsuits tied to earplugs it sold to the U.S. military. The company says the earplugs work if used correctly, the people suing it say they were defective. It's a very big case, with 3M winning some important early victories and suffering some early defeats. It is working to shield itself from this case by pushing the division that makes the earplugs into bankruptcy court. But it isn't clear just how beneficial this move will be at this point.

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Source Fool.com