Shares in RetailMeNot, Inc. (Ticker: SALE) are on sale today, down as much as 11% to touch a new record low of $22.45, after the stock was cut to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ at Stifel on concerns that a an update to Google search algorithm, Panda 4.0, may negatively impact organic traffic to RetailMeNot’s site. SALE shares are down more than 50% since touching a record high of $48.73 in February.
June expiry put options changing hands on SALE today suggest some traders are bracing for the price of the underlying to continue to slip to fresh lows during the next four weeks. The 20Jun’14 20.0 strike puts traded 1,400 times on Friday morning against open interest of just 109 contracts. Time and sales data suggests most of the volume was purchased at an average premium of $0.47 each. Put buyers may profit at expiration next month in the event that RetailMeNot’s shares plunge 16% from the last-traded price of $23.36 on the stock to trade below the breakeven point at $19.53.
