Put Buyers Thirsty for SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA)

Bearish options traders are all over Sodastream International Ltd (NASDAQ:SODA) today, with puts crossing the tape at 12 times what's normally seen at this point in the day. What's more, SODA is seeing heavy share volume, with nearly a million contracts traded already -- the most since Dec. 11.

Traders have taken particular interest in the March 20 put, where it appears some contracts have been bought to open. These contracts are already in the money, as SODA was last seen at $19.54, up 2.5%. However, to see a return on their bets, speculators will need the equity to drop below the breakeven mark of $17.97 (strike less the volume-weighted average price of $2.03) by the close on Friday, March 20, when back-month options expire.

Today's preference for puts is just more of the same from the security's options traders. For instance, SODA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.32 ranks higher than 94% of all readings from the past year. Simply put, near-term speculators have rarely been as put-skewed.

Elsewhere, over 15% of SODA's float is sold short. It would take nearly seven sessions for bears to buy back these shares, at the stock's average daily pace of trading.

This pessimism isn't surprising when looking at Sodastream International Ltd's (NASDAQ:SODA) technicals. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has surrendered a whopping 46%, and hit an all-time low of $17.81 in mid-January.