July 23 (Reuters) - Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ) on Tuesday

raised its full-year earnings forecast and posted a

second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates, as the

paintmaker was helped by higher prices and increased sales

across its paint stores and coating segments.

"We're also encouraged by growth in new residential, where

we expect continued momentum over the back half of the year,"

said CEO Heidi Petz.

She added that the company expects consolidated net sales

during the third quarter of 2024 to be up a low-single digit

percentage compared to the year-ago period. Petz took the helm

at Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ) at the beginning of this year.

Shares of the company were up 5.5% in premarket trading.

The firm raised its 2024 adjusted profit per share forecast

to a range of $11.10 to $11.40. Analysts were expecting $11.37

per share, per LSEG data.

U.S. home sale data for April shows sales rising, with

supply being the highest in more than 16 years, boosting spend

on residential repaint, driving profits for paintmakers higher.

Additionally, with interest rates expected to go lower, the

demand for homes would increase.

Industry peer PPG Industries ( PPG ) reported a

lower-than-expected quarterly revenue due to weakness in its

industrial coatings unit, yet the company expects an overall

improvement in the second half of the year.

Overall sales for Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ) inched up to $6.27

billion for the quarter ended June 30, from $6.24 billion a year

ago, but falling short of estimates of $6.33 billion, as per

LSEG data.

However, CEO Petz flagged a continued weakness in the

Consumer Brands Group sales, impacted by soft DIY-paint demand

in the U.S. Net sales in the segment fell 10.7% from a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the Ohio-based company reported a

profit of $3.70 per share for the reported quarter, compared

with estimates of $3.48 per share.