Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter financial results before the markets open on Wednesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.78 in earnings per share (EPS) on $14.31 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $0.59 in EPS on $13.68 billion in revenue.

This home improvement company ranks very high with consumers. It serves approximately 16 million customers a week in the United States, Canada and Mexico through its stores and online. With fiscal year 2014 sales of $56.2 billion, Lowe’s has more than 1,840 home improvement and hardware stores and 265,000 employees.

With new home sales booming, and consumers upgrading existing homes, the company is not only poised for a strong rest of 2015, but 2016 looks outstanding as well.

After its fiscal second-quarter earnings were reported, independent research firm Argus weighed in on Lowe’s and listed a few highlights about the company:

• The firm remains encouraged by the merchandising initiatives it has seen at Lowe’s stores and by what appears to be a greater management commitment to controlling costs.
• There is a growing conviction that Lowe’s has the ability to boost comparable store sales growth and slightly increase gross margins.
• Lowe’s is seeing signs of modest home price appreciation. Its customers have more confidence that the value of their homes is increasing, and more customers have plans to begin projects.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported its earnings Tuesday morning and shares were up roughly 5% following the results. We might expect a similar performance from this rival retailer. And it seems that some other analysts think so as well.

Ahead of its earnings report, a few other analysts weighed in on Lowe’s:

• Longbow Research reiterated a Buy rating with an $85 price target.
• Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with an $85 price target.
• Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and raised its target to $80 from $70.

So far in 2015, Lowe’s has outperformed the market, with the stock up over 5%. However, over the past 52 weeks the stock has risen about 24%.

Shares of Lowe’s were trading up 3.2% at $73.94 Tuesday afternoon, with a consensus analyst price target of $80.78 and a 52-week trading range of $57.96 to $76.25.

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