Short Interest in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) Decreases By 5.0%

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,200,000 shares, a decline of 5.0% from the December 31st total of 25,480,000 shares. Approximately 31.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elizabeth B. Davis sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total value of $145,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 99,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,313.44. The trade was a 7.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $634,660. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comstock Resources

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 79.2% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 689,780 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,677,000 after buying an additional 304,780 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Comstock Resources by 256.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 111,934 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Comstock Resources by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,736,000 after purchasing an additional 57,376 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Comstock Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,338 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Institutional investors own 36.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CRK shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Comstock Resources from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Comstock Resources from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Comstock Resources in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Comstock Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.40.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRK traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.48. 2,583,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,492,959. Comstock Resources has a twelve month low of $7.07 and a twelve month high of $22.06. 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 $17.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.47.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.01). Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 4.93% and a negative return on equity of 3.88%. The firm had revenue of $304.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post -0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.