Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,840,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the October 31st total of 25,470,000 shares. Approximately 35.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CRK. Mizuho decreased their price target on Comstock Resources from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Siebert Williams Shank cut Comstock Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $9.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Comstock Resources in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Comstock Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comstock Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.31.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRK traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.94. The stock had a trading volume of 698,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,425,797. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of -84.33 and a beta of 0.57. Comstock Resources has a one year low of $7.07 and a one year high of $15.84.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $304.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.75 million. Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 4.93% and a negative return on equity of 3.88%. Comstock Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Comstock Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 26.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,696,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $121,414,000 after buying an additional 2,438,252 shares in the last quarter. KGH Ltd raised its holdings in Comstock Resources by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 12,125,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,858,000 after acquiring an additional 975,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 775.4% during 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 period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the second quarter worth $6,544,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.