Question

"DEF Corporation, after many profitable years, declares a one-time special cash dividend of $5.00 per share. After the announcement, the stock is trading at $50 per share. Your customer holds 1 DEF Jan 55 Call. As of the ex date, the customer will have:"

Answer 1

Answer: B. 1 DEF Jan 50 Call

Explanation:

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) acting under its mandate of being an issuer and guarantor for options and futures contracts can alter options prices but does not do so for prices based on normal dividends as they are more regular and their effects are already accounted for in the price of the call.

When a company calls a one-time special cash dividend, this is new to the market which would not have incorporated it into the price of the call. The OCC will then adjust the price to account for this.

In this case it will do so by subtracting the dividend from the call;

= 55 - 5

= $50

The customer will then have 1 DEF Jan 50 Call .