Contrasting Sony (SONY) and Its Competitors

Sony (NYSE:SONY) is one of 150 public companies in the “Household Durables” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Sony to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.1% of Sony shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.7% of shares of all “Household Durables” companies are owned by institutional investors. 7.0% of Sony shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.6% of shares of all “Household Durables” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Sony has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sony’s rivals have a beta of 1.73, indicating that their average stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sony and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sony	-2.00%	13.06%	4.79%
Sony Competitors	-21.29%	-14.79%	1.04%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sony and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sony	$82.90 billion	-$2.16 billion	21.07
Sony Competitors	$5.29 billion	$322.27 million	26.78

Sony has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its rivals. Sony is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Sony and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sony	1	2	4	0	2.43
Sony Competitors	1705	7235	8011	292	2.40

Sony currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.51%. As a group, “Household Durables” companies have a potential upside of 46.63%. Given Sony’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sony has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Dividends

Sony pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Sony pays out 10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Household Durables” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.4% and pay out 34.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Sony rivals beat Sony on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Sony Company Profile

Sony Group Corporation designs, develops, produces, and sells electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for the consumer, professional, and industrial markets in Japan, the United States, Europe, China, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company distributes software titles and add-on content through digital networks; network services related to game, video, and music content; and home gaming consoles, packaged and game software, and peripheral devices. It also develops, produces, markets, and distributes recorded music; publishes music; and produces and distributes animation titles, game applications, and various services for music and visual products. In addition, the company produces, acquires, and distributes live-action and animated motion pictures for theatrical release, as well as scripted and animated series, unscripted reality or light entertainment, daytime serials, game shows, television movies, and miniseries and other television programs; operation of television networks and direct-to-consumer streaming services; operates a visual effects and animation unit; and manages a studio facility. Further, it researches, develops, designs, produces, markets, distributes, sells, and services televisions, and video and sound products; interchangeable lens, as well as compact digital, and consumer and professional video cameras; projectors and medical equipment; mobile phones, accessories, and applications; and metal oxide semiconductor image sensors, charge-coupled devices, integration systems, and other semiconductors. Additionally, it offers Internet broadband network services; recording media, and storage media products; and life and non-life insurance, banking, and other services, as well as creates and distributes content for PCs and mobile phones. The company was formerly known as Sony Corporation and changed its name to Sony Group Corporation in April 2021. Sony Group Corporation was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.