Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M ) will release its third-quarter financial results, before the opening bell, on Wednesday, Dec. 11 .

Analysts expect the New York-based retailer to report quarterly earnings at 3 cents per share, down from 21 cents per share in the year-ago period. Macy’s projects quarterly revenue of $4.72 billion, compared to $4.86 billion a year earlier, according to data from Benzinga Pro .

On Nov. 26, Telsey Advisory Group analyst Dana Telsey maintained Macy’s with a Market Perform and maintained a $17 price target.

With the recent buzz around Macy’s ahead of quarterly earnings, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, Macy’s offers an annual dividend yield of 4.16%. That’s a quarterly dividend amount of 17.37 cents per share (69.48 cents a year).

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

Next, we take this amount and divide it by Macy’s $0.6948 dividend: $6,000 / $0.6948 = 8,636 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $144,394 worth of Macy’s, or 8,636 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 / $0.6948 = 1,727 shares, or $28,875 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.

See Also: Peacock Pays Up: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Costs Set To Balloon For Content-Hungry NBC

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.

M Price Action: Shares of Macy’s gained by 1.8% to close at $16.72 on Monday.

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