For this column, we’re looking at one investment idea featured in either Trades Of The Day or Daily Trade Alert… and we’re juicing it up with an options play that offers more income than purchasing shares outright. On occasion we’ll feature an idea from our own research. Please keep in mind that these trade ideas are for information purposes only.

Today’s trade idea is with Kroger Co (KR) — supermarket retailer and food processor whose stock has the potential of being an interesting value play right now.

Shares yield 2.42% today, but by selling a covered call here we can boost our income much further — generating an annualized yield of 26.4% to 47.0%.

Here’s how…

As we go to press, KR is selling for $20.57 per share and the November 24 $21.00 calls are going for about $0.55 per share.

Our trade would involve buying 100 shares of KR and simultaneously selling one of those calls.

By selling a call option, we would be giving the buyer of the option the right, but not the obligation, to purchase our 100 shares at $21.00 per share (the “strike” price) anytime before November 24 (the contract “expiration” date).

In exchange for that opportunity, the buyer of the option would be paying us $0.55 per share (the “premium”).

There are two likely ways this trade would work out, and they both offer significantly higher income than what we’d collect if we relied on the stock’s dividends alone.

To be conservative, we don’t include any dividends in our calculations for either of the following scenarios. The annualized yields are generated from options premium and applicable capital gains alone. So any dividends collected are just “bonus” that will boost our overall annualized yields even further.

Let’s take a closer look at each scenario…

Scenario #1: KR stays under $21.00 by November 24
If KR stays under $21.00 by November 24, our options contract would expire and we’d get to keep our 100 shares.

In the process, we’d receive $55.00 in premium ($0.55 x 100 shares).

That income would be collected instantly, when the trade opens.

Excluding any commissions, if “Scenario 1″ plays out, we’d receive a 2.7% yield for selling the covered call ($0.55/$20.57) in 37 days. That works out to a 26.4% annualized yield.

Scenario #2: KR climbs over $21.00 by November 24
If KR climbs over $21.00 by November 24 our 100 shares will get sold (“called away”) at $21.00 per share.

In “Scenario 2” — like “Scenario 1” — we’d collect an instant $55 in premium ($0.55 x 100 shares) when the trade opens. We’d also generate $43 in capital gains when the trade closes because we’d be buying 100 shares at $20.57 and selling them at $21.00.

In this scenario, excluding any commissions, we’d be looking at a $98.00 profit.

From a percentage standpoint, this scenario would deliver an instant 2.7% yield for selling the covered call ($0.55/$20.57) and a 2.1% return from capital gains ($0.43/20.57).

At the end of the day, we’d be looking at a 4.8% total return in 37 days, which works out to a 47.0% annualized yield from KR.

Here’s how we’d make the trade…
We’d place a “Buy-Write” options order with a Net Debit price of as close to $20.02 ($20.57 – $0.55) as we can get — the lower the better. Options contracts work in 100-share blocks, so we’d have to buy at least 100 shares of Kroger Co (KR) for this trade. For every 100 shares we’d buy, we’d “Sell to Open” one options contract using a limit order. Accounting for the $55 in premium we’d collect, that would require a minimum investment of $2,002. 

Good Trading!
Phil Lamanna and Greg Patrick

P.S. We’d only make this trade if: 1) we wanted to own the underlying stock anyways 2) we believed it was trading at a reasonable price 3) we were comfortable owning it for the long-haul in case the price drops significantly below our cost basis by expiration and 4) we were comfortable letting it go if shares get called away. To be mindful of position sizing, except in rare cases, the value of this trade wouldn’t exceed 5% of our total portfolio value. In addition, to minimize taxes and tax paperwork, we would most likely make this trade in a retirement account, such as an IRA or 401(k).

Please note: We’re not registered financial advisors and these aren’t specific recommendations for you as an individual. Each of our readers have different financial situations, risk tolerance, goals, time frames, etc. You should also be aware that some of the trade details (specifically stock prices and options premiums) are certain to change from the time we do our research, to the time we publish our article, to the time you’re alerted about it. So please don’t attempt to make this trade yourself without first doing your own due diligence and research.