Shares of Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) are up 7.7% to trade at $72.67 at last glance, after reports that the grocery chain named former Walmart (WMT) executive Greg Foran as its CEO. This comes after the company ousted former CEO Rodney McMullen in March, following a board investigation deemed his personal conduct was “inconsistent” with ethics policies.
On track for its biggest single-day percentage gain since June, KR now sports a 16.3% year-to-date lead. The equity earlier hit its highest level since August, skyrocketing past overhead pressure at its 200-day moving average, which capped rallies in November and December.
Some of today's pop could be attributed to short covering. The 31.33 million shares sold short make up 5.4% of KR's available float, or nearly a week's worth of pent-up buying power.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), KR's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.93 ranks higher than all other readings from the last year, meaning options traders have been much more bullish than usual.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 2,314 puts have trade hands -- triple the intraday average volume -- compared to 3,779 calls. The most popular contract is the April 65 put, where new positions are being sold to open.
