MG Butterfly Strategy
MG (Mistras Group, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Security & Protection Services industry), listed on NYSE.
Mistras Group, Inc. provides technology-enabled asset protection solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Services, International, and Products and Systems. It offers non-destructive testing services; predictive maintenance assessments of fixed and rotating assets; inline inspection for pipelines; and develops enterprise inspection database management software and plant condition management software. The company also provides maintenance and light mechanical services, such as corrosion removal, mitigation and prevention, insulation installation and removal, electrical, heat tracing, industrial cleaning, pipefitting, and welding; engineering consulting services primarily for process equipment, technologies, and facilities; and utilizes scaffolding and rope access to access at-height and confined assets. In addition, it offers certified divers for subsea inspection and maintenance; unmanned aerial, land-based, and subsea systems for inspection applications; online condition-monitoring solutions; quality assurance and quality control solutions for new and existing metal and alloy components, materials, and composites. Further, the company designs and installs monitoring systems, as well as provides commissioning, training, reporting, technical support, and annual maintenance services; Web-based solutions; and custom-developed software.
MG (Mistras Group, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Security & Protection Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $546.6M, a trailing P/E of 24.24, a beta of 0.92 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 7.22-19.56, average daily share volume of 167K, a public-listing history dating back to 2009, approximately 5K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MG stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.92 places MG roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on MG?
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 MG snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $16.91, ATM IV 67.00%, IV rank 13.21%, expected move 19.21%. The butterfly on MG 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 MG specifically: MG IV at 67.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MG butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 19.21% (roughly $3.25 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 MG expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MG should anchor to the underlying notional of $16.91 per share and to the trader's directional view on MG stock.
MG butterfly setup
The MG 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 MG near $16.91, the first option leg uses a $16.06 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MG 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 MG shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $16.06 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $16.91 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $17.76 | N/A |
MG 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.
MG butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on MG. 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 MG
Butterflies on MG are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect MG 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.
MG thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MG extends from approximately $13.66 on the downside to $20.16 on the upside. A MG long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if MG settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current MG IV rank near 13.21% 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 MG at 67.00%. As a Industrials name, MG options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MG-specific events.
MG 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. MG positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MG alongside the broader basket even when MG-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MG chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on MG?
- A butterfly on MG is the butterfly strategy applied to MG (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 MG stock trading near $16.91, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MG chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MG 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 MG butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 67.00%), 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 MG butterfly?
- The breakeven for the MG 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 MG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 19.21%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on MG?
- Butterflies on MG are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect MG 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 MG implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- MG ATM IV is at 67.00% with IV rank near 13.21%, 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.