Selling cash secured puts on stocks an investor is happy to take ownership of is a great way to generate some extra income. A cash-secured put involves writing an at-the-money or out-of-the-money put option and simultaneously setting aside enough cash to buy the stock. The goal is to either have the put expire worthless and keep the premium, or to be assigned and acquire the stock below the current price. It’s important that anyone selling puts understands that they may be assigned 100 shares at the strike price.
Why Trade Cash Secured Puts?
Selling cash secured puts is a bullish trade but slightly less bullish than outright stock ownership. If the investor was strongly bullish, they would prefer to look at strategies like a long call or a bull call spread. Investors would sell a put on a stock they think will stay flat, rise slightly, or at worst not drop too much.
Cash secured put sellers set aside enough capital to purchase the shares and are happy to take ownership of the stock if called upon to do so by the put buyer. Naked put sellers, on the other hand, have no intention of taking ownership of the stock and are purely looking to generate premium from option selling strategies.
The more bullish the cash secure put investor is, the closer they should sell the put to the current stock price. This will generate the most amount of premium and also increase the chances of the put being assigned. Selling deep-out-of-the-money puts generates the smallest amount of premium and is less likely to see the put assigned.
PFE Cash Secure Put Example
Pfizer (PFE) is an old school defensive stock with a 5.67% dividend yield.
Yesterday, with PFE trading at $29.28, the February put option with a strike price of $28 was trading around $0.90. Traders selling this put would receive $90 in option premium. In return for receiving this premium, they have an obligation to buy 100 shares of PFE for $28. By February 16, if PFE is trading for $25, or $20, or even $10, the put seller still has to buy 100 shares at $28.
But, if PFE is trading above $28, the put option expires worthless, and the trader keeps the $90 option premium. The net capital at risk is equal to the strike price of $28, less the $0.90 in option premium. So, if assigned, the net cost basis will be $28.10. That’s not bad for a stock currently trading at $29.28. That’s a 7.45% discount from the price it was trading yesterday.
If PFE stays above $28, the return on capital is:
$90 / $2,710 = 3.32% in 74 days, which works out to 16.38% annualized.
Either the put seller achieves an 16.38% annualized return, or gets to buy a high yielding stock for a 7.45% discount. You can find other ideas like this using the Naked Put Screener. Below you can see some parameters that you might consider for running this screener. Feel free to tweak them as you see fit.
Company Details
The Barchart Technical Opinion rating is a 100% Sell with a Strongest short term outlook on maintaining the current direction.
Long term indicators fully support a continuation of the trend.
Of the 17 analysts covering PFE, 7 have a Strong Buy rating, 1 has a Moderate Buy rating and 9 have a Hold rating.
Pfizer Inc. is a research-based, global biopharmaceutical company.
he company boasts a sustainable pipeline with multiple late-stage programs that can drive growth.
Pfizer markets a wide range of drugs and vaccines. Its business comprises six business units - Oncology, Inflammation & Immunology, Rare Disease, Hospital, Vaccines and Internal Medicine.
Pfizer spun-off its Upjohn unit, its off-patent branded and generic established medicines business, and combined it with generic drugmaker Mylan to create a new generic pharmaceutical company called Viatris.
The Consumer Healthcare (CHC) segment, an over-the-counter (OTC) medicines business, was merged with Glaxo's unit to form a new joint venture.
'The Consumer Healthcare joint venture with Glaxo and the merger of Upjohn unit with Mylan has made Pfizer a smaller company with a diversified portfolio of innovative drugs and vaccines.
Summary
While this type of strategy requires a lot of capital, it is a great way to generate an income from stocks you want to own. If you end up being assigned, you can sit back and collect the healthy 5.67% dividend on offer from PFE. You can do this on other stocks as well, but remember to start small until you understand a bit more about how this all works.
Risk averse traders might consider buying an out-of-the-money put to protect the downside.
Please remember that options are risky, and investors can lose 100% of their investment.
This article is for education purposes only and not a trade recommendation. Remember to always do your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
On the date of publication, Gavin McMaster did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
