Today’s tickers: PAY, CAB & GPRE
PAY - VeriFone Systems, Inc. – Shares in the mobile payments solutions provider rallied sharply on Tuesday, rising 8.4% to an intraday high of $22.18, after the company’s CEO, Douglas Bergeron, stepped down. VeriFone, which was raised to ‘Positive’ from ‘Neutral’ with a target price of $25.00 at Susquehanna today, currently trades up 5.8% on the session at $21.65 as of 12:30 p.m. ET. Options traders positioning for shares in the name to extend gains in the near term snapped up April expiry calls this morning. The April $23 strike calls attracted the most volume, with upwards of 3,200 lots in play versus open interest of 811 contracts, as of the time of this writing. Traders appear to have purchased most of the volume for an average premium of $0.69 apiece, and may profit at expiration next month should VeriFone’s shares rally another 6.8% over today’s high of $22.18 to top the average breakeven point at $23.69. VeriFone Systems shares are down roughly 60% since this time last year.
CAB - Cabela’s, Inc. – Upside call options on Cabela’s are active today, with shares in the retailer of hunting and camping gear rising nearly 13% to touch a new all-time high of $60.81 after the company’s forecast of first-quarter profits topped the average analyst projection. Traders positioning for shares in CAB to extend gains in the near term, and following the company’s analyst day tomorrow, picked up March and April expiry calls on the name. Bulls purchased more than 760 in-the-money calls at the Mar. $60 strike for an average premium of $0.59 apiece during the first half of the trading day. Meanwhile, like-minded strategists exchanged more than 700 calls at the April $60 strike versus open interest of 58 contracts. Traders buying the contracts in the early going appear to have paid an average premium of $1.91 per contract for the April $60 strike calls, and may profit if shares in Cabela’s rally another 1.8% to top the average breakeven point…
