Bears have already shown a sweet tooth for Hershey and are now betting that investors will sour on the candy maker into the New Year.
OptionMonster's tracking systems detected unusual buying of the January 35 puts, which traded 4,374 times against open interest of 2,098 contracts. Most of the large transactions priced for $1.10, and the activity pushed overall options volume in the name to twice the average level.
HSY stock is down 0.74 percent to $35.36 in afternoon trading and is down about 6 percent in the last month. Investors have been unloading the shares after the company reported a weak revenue number on Oct. 22, and as they worry it may overspend on larger rival Cadbury.
HSY has been consolidating below its 200-day moving average for the last five sessions and has returned to the same level where it traded in early June. The stock needs to lose 4 percent to 5 percent of its value by expiration for the options purchased today to turn a profit.
Today's put buying follows similarly negative pattern last week. Overall in the session, puts outnumber calls by a bearish 4-1 ratio.
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David Russell is a reporter and writer for OptionMonster.
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