NAT Butterfly Strategy
NAT (Nordic American Tankers Limited), in the Industrials sector, (Marine Shipping industry), listed on NYSE.
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) is a shipping enterprise focused on the acquisition and chartering of double-hull tanker vessels. The company's operations extend internationally as well as within Bermuda, and it currently manages a fleet of 24 Suezmax-class crude oil tankers. In June 2011, the firm changed its name to Nordic American Tankers Limited, having previously operated as Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited.
NAT (Nordic American Tankers Limited) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Marine Shipping, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.36B, a trailing P/E of 25.11, a beta of -0.52 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 2.81-6.73, average daily share volume of 4.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 18 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NAT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.52 indicates NAT has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. NAT pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on NAT?
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.
NAT snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $6.72, ATM IV 49.50%, IV rank 10.78%, expected move 14.19%. The butterfly on NAT below is built from the end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on NAT specifically: NAT IV at 49.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a NAT butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.19% (roughly $0.95 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated NAT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NAT should anchor to the underlying notional of $6.72 per share and to the trader's directional view on NAT stock.
NAT butterfly setup
The NAT 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 NAT at $6.72 on that close, the first option leg uses a $6.38 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NAT chain at a 35-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 NAT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $6.38 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $6.72 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $7.06 | N/A |
NAT 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.
NAT butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on NAT. 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 NAT
Butterflies on NAT are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NAT 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.
NAT thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NAT extends from approximately $5.77 on the downside to $7.67 on the upside. A NAT long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if NAT settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current NAT IV rank near 10.78% 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 NAT at 49.50%. As a Industrials name, NAT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NAT-specific events.
NAT 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. NAT positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NAT alongside the broader basket even when NAT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current NAT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on NAT?
- A butterfly on NAT is the butterfly strategy applied to NAT (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 NAT stock at $6.72 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NAT chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are NAT 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 NAT butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 49.50%), 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 NAT butterfly?
- The breakeven for the NAT butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The NAT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 14.19%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on NAT?
- Butterflies on NAT are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NAT 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 NAT implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- NAT ATM IV is at 49.50% with IV rank near 10.78%, 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.