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Seadrill Ltd (SDRL) speculators are gambling on additional losses
Amid crude's first dip in four sessions, Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) is floundering -- down 6.2% this afternoon to trade at $13.44. Meanwhile, bearish betting has picked up in the stock's options pits, with put volume running at a 43% mark-up to what's expected at this point in the day.
Receiving notable attention has been SDRL's weekly 2/13 13-strike put. Several signs suggest this could be buy-to-open activity, as speculators roll the dice on additional downside through week's end, when the series expires.
These aren't the only traders who see red ahead. During the most recent reporting period, short interest on SDRL spiked 18%, with 8.5% of the stock's total float now dedicated to short interest.
Returning to the charts, Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) has had a rough go of it. Over the last year, the shares have tumbled roughly 64%. More recently, the security has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 33 percentage points over the past three months.