Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) Cut to “Underweight” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler cut shares of Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $5.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $8.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Comstock Resources from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Capital One Financial downgraded Comstock Resources from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a sector weight rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $9.75.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRK opened at $10.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 48.41 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.69. Comstock Resources has a fifty-two week low of $7.07 and a fifty-two week high of $13.39.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $246.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.02 million. Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a negative return on equity of 1.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comstock Resources will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comstock Resources

In other news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue bought 825,868 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.82 per share, with a total value of $7,284,155.76. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 197,298,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,169,815.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Drilling L.P. Arkoma purchased 573,453 shares of Comstock Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.64 per share, for a total transaction of $6,101,539.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,450,946 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,718,065.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue acquired 825,868 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.82 per share, for a total transaction of $7,284,155.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 197,298,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,169,815.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 4,032,087 shares of company stock valued at $38,124,794. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comstock Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 26.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,696,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,414,000 after buying an additional 2,438,252 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Comstock Resources by 775.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 875,371 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,086,000 after acquiring an additional 775,371 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Comstock Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,544,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comstock Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,643,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 19.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,270,435 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,567,000 after purchasing an additional 362,043 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.13% of the company’s stock.

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.