HUM Long Put Strategy

HUM (Humana Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Plans industry), listed on NYSE.

Humana Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health and well-being company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Group and Specialty, and Healthcare Services. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It also has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits. In addition, the company provides commercial fully insured medical and specialty health insurance benefits comprising dental, vision, and other supplemental health benefits; and administrative services only products to individuals and employer groups, as well as military services, such as TRICARE T2017 East Region contract. Further, it offers pharmacy solutions, provider services, and home solutions services, such as home health and other services to its health plan members, as well as to third parties.

HUM (Humana Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Plans, with a market capitalization of approximately $36.60B, a trailing P/E of 32.46, a beta of 0.68 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 163.11-315.35, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 66K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HUM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.68 indicates HUM has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. HUM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a long put on HUM?

A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration.

Current HUM snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $304.60, ATM IV 46.03%, IV rank 33.82%, expected move 13.20%. The long put on HUM 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 28-day expiry.

Why this long put structure on HUM specifically: HUM IV at 46.03% 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 13.20% (roughly $40.19 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated HUM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HUM should anchor to the underlying notional of $304.60 per share and to the trader's directional view on HUM stock.

HUM long put setup

The HUM long put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With HUM near $304.60, the first option leg uses a $305.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HUM chain at a 28-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 HUM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Put$305.00$14.50

HUM long put risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$1,450.00
Max Profit (per contract)
$29,049.00
Max Loss (per contract)
-$1,450.00
Breakeven(s)
$290.50
Risk / Reward Ratio
20.034

Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.

HUM long put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on HUM. 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.

Underlying Price% From SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%+$29,049.00
$67.36-77.9%+$22,314.24
$134.71-55.8%+$15,579.47
$202.05-33.7%+$8,844.71
$269.40-11.6%+$2,109.94
$336.75+10.6%-$1,450.00
$404.10+32.7%-$1,450.00
$471.44+54.8%-$1,450.00
$538.79+76.9%-$1,450.00
$606.14+99.0%-$1,450.00

When traders use long put on HUM

Long puts on HUM hedge an existing long HUM stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying HUM exposure being hedged.

HUM thesis for this long put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HUM extends from approximately $264.41 on the downside to $344.79 on the upside. A HUM long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long HUM position with one put per 100 shares held. Current HUM IV rank near 33.82% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the long put thesis on HUM should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, HUM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HUM-specific events.

HUM long put positions are structurally bearish; 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. HUM positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HUM alongside the broader basket even when HUM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on HUM are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current HUM chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a long put on HUM?
A long put on HUM is the long put strategy applied to HUM (stock). The strategy is structurally bearish: A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration. With HUM stock trading near $304.60, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HUM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are HUM long put max profit and max loss calculated?
Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the HUM long put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.03%), the computed maximum profit is $29,049.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,450.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a HUM long put?
The breakeven for the HUM long put priced on this page is roughly $290.50 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 HUM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.20%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a long put on HUM?
Long puts on HUM hedge an existing long HUM stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying HUM exposure being hedged.
How does current HUM implied volatility affect this long put?
HUM ATM IV is at 46.03% with IV rank near 33.82%, 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.

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