Option trading turned bullish in Fifth Third Bancorp yesterday as buyers targeted the financials.
FITB pays a dividend yield of 2.25 percent or better and trades near 1.3 times tangible book. The diversified financial-services company has been expanding, and its stock has been reaching new highs along the way.
The option paper focused on the June 15 calls, which traded more than 6,600 times against previous positioning of just 1,064 contracts. Although there were few huge blocks, the activity built steadily as most of the larger trades priced for $0.22.
Those calls lock in the price traders must pay for the stock, so they can deliver significant leverage if FITB continues to climb. The risk is that they can lose all their value if the shares don't move quickly enough.
FITB ended the session at $14.39, up 2.86 percent. The option volume wasn't off the charts, but calls outnumbered puts by about 7,600 to 940 in a reflection of the day's bullish sentiment.
Disclosure: I own FITB calls.
(A version of this post appeared on InsideOptions Pro yesterday.)
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