HCA wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
HCA Healthcare, Inc. · Healthcare · $467.73 close on Nov 2, 2026
What the Nov 2, 2026 close says about HCA
At 33.3% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $55.32 (11.8%) in HCA by Dec 18, 2026, 46 days out.
Selling the $445 put (−0.31Δ) for $12.80 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $432.20, 7.6% below the $467.73 close.
The 74-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.1× the premium of the 46-day one for 1.6× the time — more premium per day on the 46-day contract ($0.278 vs $0.191).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 2.88% on its strike and the call 2.24% on spot: puts pay 1.3× what calls do on HCA this session.
Moving down to the $425 put (−0.19Δ) buys 4.3% more room below spot and keeps 51% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 7,816 contracts; the largest single line is the $450 put expiring Jan 15 with 1,519 (19.4% of the window).
HCA goes ex-dividend on Dec 15, 2026 ($0.78 declared), inside the Dec 18 covered-call window. A short call that is in the money before an ex-date can be assigned early.
By options volume HCA ranks #172 of 661 names in our universe.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on HCA
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $445 | −0.31 | $12.80 Nov 2 | $1,280.00 | $44,500 | 2.88% | 22.8% | $432.20 | 67 | 14 |
| 0.20Δ | $425 | −0.19 | $6.59 Nov 2 | $659.00 | $42,500 | 1.55% | 12.3% | $418.41 | 17 | 2 |
Snapshot #7068 · session 2026-11-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 46
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $440 | −0.30 | $14.10 Nov 2 | $1,410.00 | $44,000 | 3.20% | 15.8% | $425.90 | 61 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $420 | −0.20 | $8.10 Nov 2 | $810.00 | $42,000 | 1.93% | 9.5% | $411.90 | 156 | 40 |
Snapshot #7068 · session 2026-11-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 74
Covered calls on HCA
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $500 | 0.32 | $10.50 Nov 2 | $1,050.00 | 2.24% | 17.8% | 9.14% | 72.6% | 117 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | $520 | 0.21 | $7.60 Nov 2 | $760.00 | 1.62% | 12.9% | 12.80% | 101.6% | 53 | 8 |
Snapshot #7068 · session 2026-11-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 46
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $520 | 0.28 | $8.80 Nov 2 | $880.00 | 1.88% | 9.3% | 13.06% | 64.4% | 699 | 1 |
| 0.20Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
Snapshot #7068 · session 2026-11-02 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 74
HCA volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 33.3%session 2026-11-02
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Dec 15, 2026 · $0.78 declaredchecked Nov 2, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 7,816 contractssession 2026-11-02
- Largest open-interest line
- $450 put · Jan 15 · 1,519
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #172 of 661 optionable names by options volume
How these numbers are made
One end-of-day snapshot per session from a 15-minute-delayed feed. A premium is a contract’s last trade, used only if it printed that session, sits above intrinsic value and is in order with its neighbours; deltas are the feed’s own. Expiries are the first at least 30 and 60 days out, and nothing under 30 days is annualized. Not investment advice. Full methodology.
- No contract near 0.20Δ traded this session
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (1 of 252 sessions so far); IV rank and percentile need a full year of it.
- Our data provider does not license announced earnings dates, and we do not publish estimates.
- Our data feed carries last trades, not live bid/ask quotes, so we cannot show a spread.