Shareholders of Lazard (LAZ) can enhance their income by selling December covered calls at a $55 strike price, collecting a premium of $2.10, which translates to an additional 9.3% annualized return. This brings the total potential annualized return to 13.4%, assuming the stock is not called away. If the stock exceeds $55, shareholders could still achieve an 18.8% return, including dividends, provided the stock price rises by 14.4% from current levels.
The trailing twelve-month volatility for Lazard is calculated at 48%, with recent trading reflecting steep call volume, at 1.76 million against put volume of 853,328, indicating a put-to-call ratio of 0.48. This high volume of calls suggests a market preference for bullish positions among S&P 500 components.
