Updating Sherwin-Williams Co. and Sony Corp.

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SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO. $281 (www.sherwin-williams.com) earned $9.31 a share in 2014, up 24.6% from $7.47 in 2013. Sales rose 9.3%, to $11.1 billion from $10.2 billion. These gains are partly due to Mexican paint maker Comex’s U.S. and Canadian operations (including 314 stores), which Sherwin bought for $165 million in September 2013. Higher home construction also spurred paint sales. In addition, Sherwin raised its dividend by 21.8%. The new annual rate of $2.68 yields 1.0%. However, the stock is expensive at 25.1 times its likely 2015 earnings of $11.18 a share. Hold. SONY CORP. ADRs $27 (www.sony.com) has started selling its new PlayStation 4 video-game console in China. The company has sold 20.2 million units since it launched the new version in November 2013. However, Chinese gamers tend to prefer playing on personal computers or mobile devices, so it is unclear if they will buy the PlayStation. Moreover, government controls on content limit the number of games people can play online…