COWZ Butterfly Strategy
COWZ (Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on CBOE.
A strategy driven exchange traded fund that aims to provide capital appreciation over time by screening the Russell 1000 for the top 100 companies based on free cash flow yield.
COWZ (Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $18.10B, a beta of 0.70 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 52.82-64.975, average daily share volume of 1.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 2016. These structural characteristics shape how COWZ etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.70 places COWZ roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. COWZ pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on COWZ?
A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.
Current COWZ snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $63.00, ATM IV 23.30%, IV rank 34.61%, expected move 6.68%. The butterfly on COWZ below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on COWZ specifically: COWZ IV at 23.30% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 6.68% (roughly $4.21 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated COWZ expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on COWZ should anchor to the underlying notional of $63.00 per share and to the trader's directional view on COWZ etf.
COWZ butterfly setup
The COWZ butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With COWZ near $63.00, the first option leg uses a $59.85 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed COWZ chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 COWZ shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $59.85 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $63.00 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $66.15 | N/A |
COWZ butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.
COWZ butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on COWZ. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
When traders use butterfly on COWZ
Butterflies on COWZ are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect COWZ to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
COWZ thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for COWZ extends from approximately $58.79 on the downside to $67.21 on the upside. A COWZ long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if COWZ settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current COWZ IV rank near 34.61% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on COWZ should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, COWZ options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to COWZ-specific events.
COWZ butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. COWZ positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move COWZ alongside the broader basket even when COWZ-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current COWZ chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on COWZ?
- A butterfly on COWZ is the butterfly strategy applied to COWZ (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With COWZ etf trading near $63.00, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed COWZ chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are COWZ butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the COWZ butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 23.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a COWZ butterfly?
- The breakeven for the COWZ butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current COWZ market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 6.68%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on COWZ?
- Butterflies on COWZ are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect COWZ to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
- How does current COWZ implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- COWZ ATM IV is at 23.30% with IV rank near 34.61%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.