PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) will release earnings for the fourth quarter before the opening bell on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings of 36 cents per share. That's up from 31 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for PG&E's quarterly revenue is $7.05 billion (it reported $6.63 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

With the recent buzz around PG&E, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends. As of now, PG&E has an annual dividend yield of 1.19%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 5 cents per share (20 cents a year).

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

Next, we take this amount and divide it by PG&E's $0.20 dividend: $6,000 / $0.20 = 30,000 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $502,500 worth of PG&E, or 30,000 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 / $0.20 = 6,000 shares, or $100,500 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.

PCG Price Action: Shares of PG&E gained by 2.5% to close at $16.75 on Tuesday.

Ahead of quarterly earnings, Wells Fargo analyst Shahriar Pourreza, on Jan. 20, maintained PG&E with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $23 to $24.

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