IP: Rolling Out and Up

There was an unusual distribution on my IP shares – they spun off a part of the company and received some cash.  All of that led to an extra dividend in the form of three shares on my 200-share position, and a small amount of cash.  Making it that much more complex was the adjustment to the covered calls I’d written – I had to hold all of those items until expiration.

I resolved to streamline the position by rolling out and rolling up, and put the strategy into action as soon as regular options became available again.  I was able to buy to close the adjusted July $49 option, sell the three shares of the new company, and sell the August $50 option with a net cost of four bucks, improving my total returns to nearly 12% annualized in the process.

Pretty complication transaction all in all, but sometimes that is the way it is.   

Here’s the analysis of the total return on the IP position to date, net of fees and commissions, and assuming I collect dividends through the holding period.

IP

This is a 200-share position established in May 2013, with a basis of $9,592.00, or $47.96 per share.  I have sold strikes ranging from $47 to $50 and rolling them monthly during the holding period.

Total covered call premiums:  $583.38

Total dividend payments (includes the spun-off shares):  $428.08

Total stock gain at $50:  $390.00

Total, absolute gain on the position:  $1,401.46

Total, absolute return percentage ($1,401.46/$9,592.00):  14.61%

Annualized total return percentage (held approx 455 days):  11.72%