Financial Survey: Sony (NYSE:SONY) and Lennar (NYSE:LEN.B)

Sony (NYSE:SONY) and Lennar (NYSE:LEN.B) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sony and Lennar”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sony	$82.90 billion	1.71	-$2.16 billion	$1.12	21.37
Lennar	$32.74 billion	0.64	$2.08 billion	$6.39	13.56

Lennar has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sony. Lennar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sony, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Sony and Lennar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sony	-2.00%	13.06%	5.22%
Lennar	4.93%	7.08%	4.61%

Risk & Volatility

Sony has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennar has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Sony pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Lennar pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Sony pays out 9.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lennar pays out 31.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Sony and Lennar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sony	1	1	4	1	2.71
Lennar	0	0	0	0	0.00

Sony currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential downside of 8.08%. Given Sony’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Sony is more favorable than Lennar.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.1% of Sony shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.3% of Lennar shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.0% of Sony shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of Lennar shares are owned by company 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.

Summary

Sony beats Lennar on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sony

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.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land. It primarily sells single-family attached and detached homes in communities targeted to first-time, move-up, active adult, and luxury homebuyers. The company also offers residential mortgage financing, title insurance, and closing services for home buyers and others. In addition, it involves in the fund investment activity; and originates and sells into securitizations commercial mortgage loans. Further, the company develops, constructs, and manages multifamily rental properties. Lennar Corporation was founded in 1954 and is based in Miami, Florida.