Home Depot (HD), the main rival of Lowe's (LOW), closed higher yesterday by 3.4%, finishing out the session at a price of $28.31. It has a ways to go before reaching the 52-week high of $37.03. Will investors push the stock to that level after the second-quarter report?

I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon, but the data wasn't so bad. Earnings per share grew 9% to 72 cents -- a penny ahead of expectations. Same-store sales expanded by 1.7%.

Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW), the nation's number two home improvement superstore chain, is scheduled to discuss its second-quarter 2010 financial results Monday, August 16, in a conference call beginning at 9:00 AM (ET) hosted by CEO Robert A. Niblock and CFO Robert F. Hull, Jr. You can catch a live webcast at the Lowe's website.

During the three months that ended in July, Lowe's increased its quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this Mooresville, N.C.-based company to report earnings of $0.59 per share, up from $0.54 per share in the year-ago period. Its revenue is expected to have risen 4.9% from a year ago to $14.5 billion.

Analyst Upgrades

• Sterne Agee upgraded Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral and has a $115 price target on the stock. The firm believes Encore Macau will drive further share gains near-term.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded PPL Corp. (PPL) to buy from hold and said the equity offering and the the stipulation reached in the KY utilities' rate cases removes important overhangs. The firm has a $30 price target on the stock.
• UBS upgraded CarMax (KMX) to buy from neutral based on forecasts for higher consumer forecast income and positive used car trends. The firm has a $28 target on the stock.
• Aeropostale (ARO) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Cardinal Financial (CFNL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Baird.
• Pinnacle West (PNW) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

While economists are still worried we may see a slump in the housing market now that the homebuyer tax credits have expired, analysts still believe Home Depot (HD) is going to thrive as consumer confidence picks up and people start tackling long-overdue home-improvement projects.

An analyst at Longbow Research upgraded Home Depot from neutral to buy today -- setting a price target for the stock at $39.

Below are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks. Click through to the original posts for more details.

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares sold off after it posted a narrower Q1 net loss, but same-store sales rose.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) swung from a year-ago loss to a Q2 profit that was better than expected.
• Deere & Co. (DE) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and improved sales, and raised its full-year outlook.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but the gross margin was disappointing, and shares fell.
• GameStop Corp. (GME) higher Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates but same-store sales declined.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) said its higher Q1 earnings beat expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates.

Home Depot Inc.'s (HD) first quarter report mirrored the progress of the U.S. economy during the initial stage of the recovery: modest growth, with the prospect of improving results, but not a return to robust growth.

Home Depot earned 45 cents per share in the first quarter, versus the Thomson/Reuters First Call estimate of 40 cents. A year ago, the company earned 30 cents per share.

Revenue increased 4.3% to $16.9 billion, excluding a one-time charge. Equally significant, Home Depot now expects 2010 sales to increase 3.5% and earnings to rise 21% to $1.88. The 2010 First Call earnings estimate is $1.88; First Call also expects the company to earn $2.22 in 2011.

Overall April retail sales numbers were better than expected, and last week's quarterly results from Kohl's (KSS), Macy's (M), Nordstrom (JWN) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) were strong. This week, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is scheduled to report earnings, along with big-box store operators Target Corp. (TGT) and Home Depot Inc. (HD). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting strong results from these mega retailers as well, and from many others reporting this week.

Unlike the other companies featured in this post, Walmart isn't expected to post double-digit earnings growth, but strong earnings growth nonetheless. The empire that founder Sam Walton built announced a collaboration with Procter & Gamble (PG), acquired a digital entertainment provider, and increased its annual dividend during its first quarter. Earnings for that period are expected to total $0.85 per share, a increase of 9.4% from the same period of the previous year. Revenue for the three months that ended in April is expected to have risen 4.5% in the past year to $98.5 billion. And analysts so far expect to see sequential and year-over-year earnings and revenue growth in the second quarter. Walmart's per-share earnings met or beat consensus estimates in the past five quarters, beating by four cents per share in the fourth quarter.

Dividend stocks have lots of appealing factors, and it's easy to find reasons to buy them. Some stocks have a great dividend yield. Others have a decades-long history of raising dividends once a year and are easy to put on your list of dividend stocks that are a lock to boost payouts. Then there are dividend stocks with great upside potential for the shares.

But sometimes investors don't put enough thought into when to sell dividend stocks. Here are some tips to help you pull the trigger:

The first quarter of 2010 is closed and the results are in. My picks surpassed the primary indices by a large margin. The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010 , was the culmination of a process presented to our readers and finally narrowed down to the select group using final prices from Monday, December 28, 2009.

To those taking time off for Good Friday: "May the Force Be with You!" To those working half days, enjoy your time with your families. The U.S. stock markets are closed today and that might be best so that we all can take a breather.

Given that stock markets all around the world were up yesterday, including ours -- again ... April Fool's Day! -- even day traders expressed confidence because they obviously were willing to hold stocks knowing the long weekend left plenty of time for unforeseen bad news to to slam their positions.