Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) Trading Up 4.5% Following Insider Buying Activity

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)’s share price traded up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $10.21 and last traded at $10.19. 642,919 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 3,918,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.75.

Specifically, major shareholder Drilling L.P. Arkoma purchased 981,898 shares of Comstock Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.13 per share, with a total value of $9,946,626.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 199,931,799 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,309,123.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Comstock Resources news, major shareholder Drilling L.P. Arkoma acquired 981,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.13 per share, with a total value of $9,946,626.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 199,931,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,309,123.87. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue bought 825,868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,169,815.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 3,458,634 shares of company stock valued at $32,023,254 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CRK shares. KeyCorp started coverage on Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Comstock Resources from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comstock Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.25.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 47.77 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comstock Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 valued at $121,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438,252 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,829,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $95,838,000 after buying an additional 34,231 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 19.0% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 362,043 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Comstock Resources by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,015,403 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,986,000 after acquiring an additional 93,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Comstock Resources by 20.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 873,918 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,071,000 after acquiring an additional 149,760 shares in the last quarter. 36.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comstock Resources Company Profile

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.