The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) will release earnings for the first quarter before the opening bell on Monday, Feb. 2.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.58 per share. That's down from $1.76 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Disney's quarterly revenue is $25.6 billion (it reported $24.69 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

On Jan. 16, Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet maintained Walt Disney with a Buy and lowered the price target from $145 to $140.

With the recent buzz around Disney, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, Disney has an annual dividend yield of 1.34%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 37.5 cents per share ($1.50 a year).

To figure out how to earn $500 monthly from Disney, we start with the yearly target of $6,000 ($500 x 12 months).

Next, we take this amount and divide it by Disney's $1.50 dividend: $6,000 / $1.50 = 4,000 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $446,320 worth of DIS, or 4,000 shares to generate a monthly dividend income of $500.

Assuming a more conservative goal of $100 monthly ($1,200 annually), we do the same calculation: $1,200 / $1.50 = 800 shares, or $89,264 to generate a monthly dividend income of $100.

Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time.

The dividend yield is calculated by dividing the annual dividend payment by the current stock price. As the stock price changes, the dividend yield will also change.

For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and its current price is $50, its dividend yield would be 4%. However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield would decrease to 3.33% ($2/$60).

Conversely, if the stock price decreases to $40, the dividend yield would increase to 5% ($2/$40).

Further, the dividend payment itself can also change over time, which can also impact the dividend yield. If a company increases its dividend payment, the dividend yield will increase even if the stock price remains the same. Similarly, if a company decreases its dividend payment, the dividend yield will decrease.

DIS Price Action: Shares of Disney gained by 1.8% to close at $111.58 on Thursday.

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