Options Investor Bets St. Mary Will Rise

OptionMonster co-founder Pete Najarian provides options picks Monday, Wednesday and Friday in TheStreet.com's Deep in the Money Calls newsletter.

David Russell, reporter for OptionMonster.

DENVER (TheStreet) -- St. Mary Land & Exploration(SM Quote) is up 61% in the past month, and at least one investor thinks it will keep moving higher.

Volume in the September 30 calls surged to 5,323 against open interest of only 44 contracts, according to OptionMonster's tracking system. The buying pushed the premium on the strike up from $1.35 to $1.50, and a single purchase accounted for the bulk of the activity.

St. Mary rose 1.28 % to $29.20 in late morning trading and reached its highest price since October. The company, which operates across North America, raised its full-year production forecast on Aug. 3, citing "a successful drilling program."

The stock needs to climb 8% over the next five weeks for today's calls to turn a profit.

Overall options volume in SM was 24 times average today, with calls outnumbering puts by almost 8 to 1.

Reported by David Russell of OptionMonster in New York.