AT&T Inc. will release earnings for its first quarter before the opening bell on Wednesday, April 22.

Analysts expect the telecommunications company to report quarterly earnings of 55 cents per share. That’s up from 51 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for AT&T's quarterly revenue is $31.24 billion (it reported $30.63 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

Ahead of quarterly earnings, Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi, on April 1, maintained AT&T with a Sector Perform rating and raised the price target from $31 to $31.5.

With the recent buzz around AT&T, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, AT&T has an annual dividend yield of 4.24%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 27.75 cents per share ($1.11 a year).

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

Next, we take this amount and divide it by AT&T's $1.11 dividend: $6,000 / $1.11 = 5,405 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $141,503 worth of AT&T, or 5,405 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 / $1.11 = 1,081 shares, or $28,301 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).

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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.

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