Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) will release its fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Monday, Sept. 28.

Analysts expect the company to report a quarterly loss of $5.26 per share, versus a loss of $5.08 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for MTN’s quarterly revenue is $271.59 million. It reported $271.29 million last year, according to Benzinga Pro.

Ahead of quarterly earnings, Stifel analyst Jeffrey Stantial on Thursday maintained a Buy rating on Vail Resorts and lowered the price target from $167 to $161, while Mizuho analyst Ben Chaiken maintained an Outperform rating and cut the price target from $174 to $160.

With the recent buzz around Vail Resorts, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company’s dividends too. As of now, MTN has an annual dividend yield of 6.44%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of $2.22 per share ($8.88 a year).

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

Next, we take this amount and divide it by MTN’s $8.88 dividend: $6,000 / $8.88 = 676 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $93,166 worth of Vail Resorts, or 676 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 / $8.88 = 135 shares, or $18,606 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.

MTN Price Action: Shares of Vail Resorts fell 1.6% to close at $137.82 on Thursday.

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