The travel-adjacent stock is struggling this year
The typically quiet options pits of Sabre Corp (NASDAQ:SABR) are bubbling with bearish activity today. So far the travel technology concern has seen 14,000 puts exchange hands, with volume running at four times its intraday average and pacing for the 99th percentile of its annual range. Most popular is the August 7.50 put, where it appears positions are being sold to open. The monthly July 7.50 put is also quite popular.
This is divergent from the call-biased trading SABR has seen during the past couple of months. In fact, during the past 10 weeks, 4.32 calls were picked up for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Plus, this ratio sits in the top 50th percentile of its annual range.
While there doesn't appear to be a concrete reason for this uptick in put trading, the nature of Sabre's business amid a nearly global slowdown on travel is enough to put off any trader as hopes of the economic reopening fade. Along with the broader travel sector, a spiking number of COVID-19 cases and technical tension at its 100-day moving average have the shares of SABR running down the charts. This trendline continues to keep a stiff lid on the stock, bringing it to a roughly 65% year-to-date deficit. For the day, however, SABR is up 3.9% at $8.02.
A deeper dig at the sentiment surrounding SABR shows that most analysts are completely unconvinced of SABR's ability to bounce back. Just one of six in coverage calls it a "strong buy," compared to three that say "hold," and two calling it a "sell" or worse. Plus, the consensus 12-month price target of $7.42 is a 7.1% discount to current levels.