The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) will release earnings for its fourth quarter before the opening bell on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings of $2.53 per share. That’s down from $3.02 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Home Depot's quarterly revenue is $38.13 billion (it reported $39.7 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

Ahead of quarterly earnings, RBC Capital analyst Steven Shemesh maintained Home Depot with a Sector Perform rating and lowered the price target from $366 to $363 on Feb. 19.

With the recent buzz around Home Depot, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, Home Depot has an annual dividend yield of 2.41%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of $2.30 per share ($9.20 a year).  

So, how can investors exploit its dividend yield to pocket a regular $500 monthly?

To earn $500 per month or $6,000 annually from dividends alone, you would need an investment of approximately $249,227 or around 652 shares. For a more modest $100 per month or $1,200 per year, you would need $49,693 or around 130 shares.

To calculate: Divide the desired annual income ($6,000 or $1,200) by the dividend ($9.20 in this case). So, $6,000 / $9.20 = 652 ($500 per month), and $1,200 / $9.20 = 130 shares ($100 per month).

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

How that works: The dividend yield is computed by dividing the annual dividend payment by the stock’s current price.

For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and is currently priced at $50, the dividend yield would be 4% ($2/$50). However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield drops to 3.33% ($2/$60). Conversely, if the stock price falls to $40, the dividend yield rises to 5% ($2/$40).

Similarly, changes in the dividend payment can impact the yield. If a company increases its dividend, the yield will also increase, provided the stock price stays the same. Conversely, if the dividend payment decreases, so will the yield.

HD Price Action: Shares of Home Depot gained 1% to close at $382.25 on Friday.

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