Today’s tickers: SNE, ERF & MYGN
SNE – Sony Corp – Big prints in Sony Corp. call and put options this morning pushed the consumer electronics maker onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner in the early going on Monday, with overall volume up above 21,000 contracts versus the stock’s average daily volume of roughly 8,000 contracts. Trading traffic in the June expiry options suggests one or more traders are near term bullish on the prospects for the price of the underlying shares. The stock is up nearly 5.0% on the day to stand at $18.78 as of 11:25 a.m. ET. The Jun $17 strike puts traded 8,900 times versus open interest of just 232 contracts during the first 20 minutes of the session. It looks like the puts were sold for a premium of $0.25 apiece. Similarly, roughly 2,090 of the Jun $16 strike puts appear to have been sold at the same time for a premium of $0.10 each. Maximum potential profits equal to premiums received on the transactions are available at June expiration as long as Sony’s shares exceed the stated striking prices. Meanwhile, less than 10 minutes after the puts traded, roughly 5,800 of the Jun $19 strike calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.80 per contract. The calls make money at expiration should shares in Sony Corp. rally another 5.4% to surpass the average premium price of $19.80.
ERF – Enerplus Corp – Shares in North American independent energy company, Enerplus Corp, are up more than 5.0% on Monday to stand at $15.84 as of 11:45 a.m. ET. The operator of oil and gas properties in Canada and the U.S. was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Raymond James today. Options activity on Enerplus this morning indicates at least one strategist is positioning for shares in the name to rally to the highest level since October of 2012 during the next couple of months. The July $17 strike calls have traded around 1,100 times as of midday in New York versus previously existing open interest of 50 contracts. It looks like most of the volume was purchased at the start of the session for a premium of $0.10 each. The bullish position makes money if shares in Enerplus climb 8.0% to top $17.10 by July expiration. Shares in the energy company have increased 35% during the past six months.
MYGN – Myriad Genetics, Inc. – Molecular diagnostic test company, Myriad Genetics, popped up on our scanners this morning due to heavy volume in the August expiry call options. Shares in MYGN, which rallied more than 15% last week after reporting better than expected third-quarter earnings and sales, are roughly flat on the day, down 0.15% at $33.05 as of 12:30 p.m. ET. The Aug $33 strike calls are the most actively traded by volume on MYGN today, with roughly 4,100 in-the-money calls in play versus open interest of 1,656 contracts. It looks like most of the calls were likely purchased earlier in the session for an average premium of $3.75 each. Call buyers may profit at expiration should shares in Myriad Genetics rise 11% to exceed the breakeven point at $36.75.
Caitlin Duffy
Equity Options Analyst
