CNX stock hits decade high as options surge on Marcellus, Utica gas outlook

(Bloomberg) — At least one investor is making a big bet that CNX Resources Corp. will keep climbing even as the natural gas producer’s stock reached a 10-year high this week.

Options trading in CNX surged as one or more investors bought over 34,000 call options on Thursday and Friday. The derivatives give holders the right to buy more than 3 million shares at $40 by mid-April. The wager was made while the stock was still trading around $35, shares advanced 5.1% Friday to $36.52, the highest since July 2014.

Friday’s option volume is the largest since July 2020 for the $5.5 billion natural gas producer focused on the Marcellus and Utica shale.

The stock’s advance comes even as natural gas futures slip. Henry Hub prices fell nearly 8% this week on track for their worst weekly slump since July. Prices for the fuel have been holding below $3 per million British Thermal Units for most of the year, restrained by growing production and lackluster demand.

The Energy Information Administration offered some comfort to traders bullish on the commodity, estimating this week that colder weather will boost home consumption by about 5% this winter.

Meanwhile, a Sterling Capital fund opened a position in the company in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The position was only 22,640 shares, according to data analyzed by Bloomberg.