Shares of The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) are trading higher today after the company posted a second-quarter profit of $21.1 million, or 15 cents per share. NYT's adjusted profit came in at 26 cents per share, beating analysts' estimates of 22 cents per share. The company also annouced an increase int eh newsstand price from $1.25 to $1.50. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NYT.

After hitting a one-year high of $23.85 last July, the stock hit a one-year low of $12.08 last week. NYT opened this morning at $13.05. So far today the stock has hit a low of $12.38 and a high of $13.42. As of 1:15, NYT is trading at $13.00, up $0.16 (1.1%). The chart for NYT looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a bearish 2 Stars (out of 5) Sell rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $12.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 19.0% return in just four weeks as long as NYT is above $12.50 at August expiration. NYT would have to fall by more than 4.3% in the next few weeks before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

NYT hasn't been below $12.08 at all in the past year and has shown support around $12.50 recently. This trade could be risky if the economy continues to worsen, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find at its year low just above $12.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in NYT.