HIW Covered Call Strategy
HIW (Highwoods Properties, Inc.), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Office industry), listed on NYSE.
Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW) real estate investment trust (REIT) and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. Highwoods is a fully-integrated office REIT that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.
HIW (Highwoods Properties, Inc.) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Office, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.87B, a trailing P/E of 30.65, a beta of 1.10 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 20.45-32.76, average daily share volume of 1.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1994, approximately 350 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HIW stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.10 places HIW roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. HIW pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on HIW?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current HIW snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $25.57, ATM IV 61.30%, IV rank 12.01%, expected move 17.57%. The covered call on HIW 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 covered call structure on HIW specifically: HIW IV at 61.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling HIW covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 17.57% (roughly $4.49 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 HIW expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HIW should anchor to the underlying notional of $25.57 per share and to the trader's directional view on HIW stock.
HIW covered call setup
The HIW covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With HIW near $25.57, the first option leg uses a $26.85 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HIW 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 HIW shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $25.57 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $26.85 | N/A |
HIW covered call 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 short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
HIW covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on HIW. 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 covered call on HIW
Covered calls on HIW are an income strategy run on existing HIW stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
HIW thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HIW extends from approximately $21.08 on the downside to $30.06 on the upside. A HIW covered call collects premium on an existing long HIW position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether HIW will breach that level within the expiration window. Current HIW IV rank near 12.01% 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 HIW at 61.30%. As a Real Estate name, HIW options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HIW-specific events.
HIW covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; 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. HIW positions also carry Real Estate sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HIW alongside the broader basket even when HIW-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on HIW carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical HIW earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current HIW chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on HIW?
- A covered call on HIW is the covered call strategy applied to HIW (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With HIW stock trading near $25.57, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HIW chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are HIW covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the HIW covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 61.30%), 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 HIW covered call?
- The breakeven for the HIW covered call 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 HIW market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 17.57%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on HIW?
- Covered calls on HIW are an income strategy run on existing HIW stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current HIW implied volatility affect this covered call?
- HIW ATM IV is at 61.30% with IV rank near 12.01%, 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.