UHS Collar Strategy
UHS (Universal Health Services, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Care Facilities industry), listed on NYSE.
Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), operating through its various divisions, is a healthcare entity that both owns and manages a network of acute care hospitals, along with outpatient and specialized behavioral health treatment centers. Its business operations are strategically bifurcated into two main segments: Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services. The hospitals under its management provide a comprehensive spectrum of medical provisions, encompassing general and specialty surgical interventions, internal medicine, obstetrics, urgent and emergency department services, diagnostic imaging (radiology), cancer therapy (oncology), advanced diagnostic procedures, cardiac care, pediatric medicine, pharmaceutical services, and mental health support. As of a reported date of February 24, 2022, the company's significant presence included the ownership or operation of 363 inpatient facilities, complemented by 40 outpatient and other specialized sites. These facilities are distributed across 39 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico. Beyond direct patient care, UHS also extends into commercial health insurance provision and offers a variety of crucial management support functions.
UHS (Universal Health Services, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Care Facilities, with a market capitalization of approximately $10.44B, a trailing P/E of 6.74, a beta of 1.06 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 140.08-246.33, average daily share volume of 973K, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 102K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how UHS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.06 places UHS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 6.74 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. UHS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a collar on UHS?
A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot.
UHS snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $170.41, ATM IV 31.80%, IV rank 32.11%, expected move 9.12%. The collar on UHS below is built from the August 14, 2026 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 collar structure on UHS specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; mid-range UHS IV at 31.80% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.12% (roughly $15.54 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 UHS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UHS should anchor to the underlying notional of $170.41 per share and to the trader's directional view on UHS stock.
UHS collar setup
The UHS collar below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With UHS at $170.41 on that close, the first option leg uses a $180.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UHS 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 UHS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $170.41 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $180.00 | $3.28 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $160.00 | $2.15 |
UHS collar risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$16,928.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $1,071.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$928.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $169.29
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.154
Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium.
UHS collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on UHS. 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 Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$928.50 |
| $37.69 | -77.9% | -$928.50 |
| $75.36 | -55.8% | -$928.50 |
| $113.04 | -33.7% | -$928.50 |
| $150.72 | -11.6% | -$928.50 |
| $188.40 | +10.6% | +$1,071.50 |
| $226.07 | +32.7% | +$1,071.50 |
| $263.75 | +54.8% | +$1,071.50 |
| $301.43 | +76.9% | +$1,071.50 |
| $339.11 | +99.0% | +$1,071.50 |
When traders use collar on UHS
Collars on UHS hedge an existing long UHS stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
UHS thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UHS extends from approximately $154.87 on the downside to $185.95 on the upside. A UHS collar hedges an existing long UHS position with a protective put while financing the put cost via a short call; when the premiums roughly offset, the collar acts as a near-zero-cost insurance band around the current spot. Current UHS IV rank near 32.11% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the collar thesis on UHS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, UHS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UHS-specific events.
UHS collar positions are structurally neutral (protective); 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. UHS positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UHS alongside the broader basket even when UHS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current UHS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on UHS?
- A collar on UHS is the collar strategy applied to UHS (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral (protective): A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot. With UHS stock at $170.41 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UHS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UHS collar max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium. For the UHS collar priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 31.80%), the computed maximum profit is $1,071.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$928.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a UHS collar?
- The breakeven for the UHS collar priced on this page is roughly $169.29 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 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 UHS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 9.12%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on UHS?
- Collars on UHS hedge an existing long UHS stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
- How does current UHS implied volatility affect this collar?
- UHS ATM IV is at 31.80% with IV rank near 32.11%, 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.