EPM Butterfly Strategy
EPM (Evolution Petroleum Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on AMEX.
Evolution Petroleum Corporation, an oil and natural gas company, engages in the development, production, ownership, and management of oil and gas properties in the United States. The company holds interests in a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in Louisiana's Delhi field. Its Delhi Holt-Bryant Unit covers an area of 13,636 acres located in Northeast Louisiana. The company also holds interests in the Hamilton Dome field covering 5,908 acres located in Wyoming; and Barnett Shale field covering an area of 123,777 acres located in North Texas. Evolution Petroleum Corporation was founded in 2003 and is based in Houston, Texas.
EPM (Evolution Petroleum Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $147.4M, a beta of 0.33 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.19-5.7, average daily share volume of 405K, a public-listing history dating back to 1996, approximately 11 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how EPM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.33 indicates EPM has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. EPM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on EPM?
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 EPM snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $4.60, ATM IV 50.30%, IV rank 14.19%, expected move 14.42%. The butterfly on EPM 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 EPM specifically: EPM IV at 50.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a EPM butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.42% (roughly $0.66 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 EPM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on EPM should anchor to the underlying notional of $4.60 per share and to the trader's directional view on EPM stock.
EPM butterfly setup
The EPM 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 EPM near $4.60, the first option leg uses a $4.37 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed EPM 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 EPM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.37 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $4.60 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.83 | N/A |
EPM 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.
EPM butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on EPM. 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 EPM
Butterflies on EPM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect EPM 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.
EPM thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for EPM extends from approximately $3.94 on the downside to $5.26 on the upside. A EPM long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if EPM settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current EPM IV rank near 14.19% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on EPM at 50.30%. As a Energy name, EPM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to EPM-specific events.
EPM 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. EPM positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move EPM alongside the broader basket even when EPM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current EPM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on EPM?
- A butterfly on EPM is the butterfly strategy applied to EPM (stock). 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 EPM stock trading near $4.60, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed EPM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are EPM 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 EPM butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 50.30%), 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 EPM butterfly?
- The breakeven for the EPM 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 EPM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.42%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on EPM?
- Butterflies on EPM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect EPM 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 EPM implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- EPM ATM IV is at 50.30% with IV rank near 14.19%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.