StockNews.com Upgrades Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) to Sell

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CRK. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Comstock Resources from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Comstock Resources from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.75.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CRK opened at $10.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.38. Comstock Resources has a 1-year low of $7.07 and a 1-year high of $13.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $410.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.97 million. Comstock Resources had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 5.65%. The business’s revenue was down 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue acquired 12,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.04 per share, with a total value of $100,500,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 194,821,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,566,364,289.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comstock Resources

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,829,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $95,838,000 after purchasing an additional 34,231 shares during the period. KGH Ltd boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 119.3% in the third quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 8,586,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $94,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670,959 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,139,351 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $72,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,302 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,295,391 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,348,000 after purchasing an additional 41,260 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 13.9% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 1,485,997 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $18,107,000 after purchasing an additional 180,917 shares during the period. 36.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Comstock Resources

Comstock Resources, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil properties in the United States. Its assets are located in the Haynesville and Bossier shales located in North Louisiana and East Texas. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas.