Ten Underperformers with Bullish Option Sentiment

By the Staff at Kapitall.com

Today we’ll examine a list of stocks that have lagged the rest of the market over the last quarter. Judging by the number of open call option positions relative to put option positions on these names, it's worth noting that options traders expect these stocks to rebound over the coming weeks.

To compile this list, we started with a universe of about 160 stocks that saw negative returns over the last quarter. We then narrowed down the list by only focusing on those companies that have a large number of open call option positions relative to put option positions (i.e. bullish options market sentiment).

Options traders clearly expect these names to rebound. What do you think? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.

The list has been sorted by the put/call ratio.

Pantry Inc. (PTRY): Grocery store industry. Market cap of $450.42 million. The stock has lost 16.97% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 3,646 contracts versus put open interest at 377 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.1). Short float at 3.64%, which implies a short ratio of 5.27. The stock has gained 46.14% over the last year.

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Regal Entertainment Group (RGC): Movie theater industry. Market cap of $1.81 billion. The stock has lost 10.11% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 14,114 contracts versus put open interest at 2,493 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.18). Short float at 7.48%, which implies a short ratio of 5.86. The stock has lost 14.49% over the last year.

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PMI Group Inc. (PMI): Surety and title insurance industry. Market cap of $531.86 million. The stock has lost 11.53% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 31,330 contracts versus put open interest at 6,943 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.22). Short float at 17.04%, which implies a short ratio of 4.32. The stock has gained 30.95% over the last year.

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Given Imaging Ltd. (GIVN): Medical appliances and equipment industry. Market cap of $410.65 million. The stock has lost 18.58% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 382 contracts versus put open interest at 87 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.23). Short float at 1.8%, which implies a short ratio of 4.44. The stock has lost 16.15% over the last year.

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Sonus Networks, Inc. (SONS): Communication equipment industry. Market cap of $738.17 million. The stock has lost 24.15% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 15,672 contracts versus put open interest at 3,703 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.24). Short float at 2.83%, which implies a short ratio of 2.44. The stock has gained 26.54% over the last year.

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Sprint Nextel Corp. (S): Wireless communications industry. Market cap of $12.64 billion. The stock has lost 10.38% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 702,702 contracts versus put open interest at 192,142 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.27). Short float at 4.46%, which implies a short ratio of 2.73. The stock has gained 15.57% over the last year.

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Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Communication equipment industry. Market cap of $6.69 billion. The stock has lost 13.2% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 145,632 contracts versus put open interest at 44,881 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.31). Short float at 1.47%, which implies a short ratio of 2.13. The stock has lost 10.84% over the last year.

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Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO): Education and training services industry. Market cap of $439.62 million. The stock has lost 27.54% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 74,890 contracts versus put open interest at 24,950 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.33). Short float at 31.67%, which implies a short ratio of 4.87. The stock has lost 62.16% over the last year.

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Jones Apparel Group, Inc. (JNY):Apparel stores industry. Market cap of $1.35 billion. The stock has lost 20.02% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 7,234 contracts versus put open interest at 2,579 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.36). Short float at 5.53%, which implies a short ratio of 2.28. The stock has lost 3% over the last year.

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Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (OWW): General entertainment industry. Market cap of $571.91 million. The stock has lost 12.24% over the last quarter. Call open interest at 889 contracts versus put open interest at 349 contracts (put/call ratio at 0.39). Short float at 1.46%, which implies a short ratio of 5.22. The stock has lost 23.84% over the last year.

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By the Staff at Kapitall.com