Shares in USG Corp. fell nearly 5.0% on Wednesday to $31.35 and the lowest level since February 6th, but trading in call options on the maker of wallboard this morning suggests one or more traders may be positioning for the price of the underlying to bounce back in the next couple of months. The stock is off its lows as of 12:30 p.m. ET, trading down a lesser 3.3% on the session at $31.87.
The most traded options on USG so far today are the 16May’14 $30 strike calls, with around 2,800 contracts in play against open interest of 301 positions. It looks like most of these in-the-money calls were purchased in the early going at an average premium of $2.98 each. The calls may be profitable at expiration in the event that USG shares rally 3.5% over the current price of $31.87 to exceed the breakeven price of $32.98. The stock closed out Tuesday’s session at $32.98. USG Corp. is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on April 24th.
