Sony Group (NYSE:SONY) Reaches New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

Sony Group Co. (NYSE:SONY) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $23.90 and last traded at $23.86, with a volume of 1208508 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.97.

The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.14. Sony Group had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 8.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SONY. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Sony Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Sony Group from $108.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sony Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SONY. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Sony Group by 433.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,611,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,745,000 after acquiring an additional 4,560,626 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Sony Group by 411.3% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 14,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 11,533 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Sony Group by 425.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 82,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 66,710 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Sony Group by 557.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 6,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Sony Group by 401.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,141,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,119,000 after buying an additional 5,718,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.05% of the company’s stock.

Sony Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $144.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.92.

About Sony Group

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.