A Closer Look at Carnival's Options Market Dynamics

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Carnival CCL.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with CCL, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 17 uncommon options trades for Carnival.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 23% bullish and 76%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 14 are puts, for a total amount of $1,148,907, and 3 are calls, for a total amount of $184,365.

Predicted Price Range

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $12.0 and $25.0 for Carnival, spanning the last three months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Carnival options trades today is 9725.0 with a total volume of 49,004.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Carnival's big money trades within a strike price range of $12.0 to $25.0 over the last 30 days.

Carnival Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Carnival

Carnival is the largest global cruise company, with 92 ships in service at the end of fiscal 2023. Its portfolio of brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; Aida in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; and P&O Cruises in Australia. Carnival also owns Holland America Princess Alaska Tours in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Carnival's brands attracted nearly 13 million guests in 2019, prior to COVID-19, a level it has reached again in 2023.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Carnival, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Current Position of Carnival

• With a volume of 19,650,229, the price of CCL is down -2.4% at $15.87.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 83 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Carnival

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $24.0.

• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Barclays continues to hold a Overweight rating for Carnival, targeting a price of $25.
• Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Mizuho lowers its rating to Buy with a new price target of $21.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Stifel continues to hold a Buy rating for Carnival, targeting a price of $25.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Stifel keeps a Buy rating on Carnival with a target price of $26.
• An analyst from JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Carnival, which currently sits at a price target of $23.

Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest Carnival options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.