Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 48,040 Shares of Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,213 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 48,040 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Comstock Resources worth $4,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,736,000 after acquiring an additional 57,376 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $419,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 256.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 111,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 27.8% in the second quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 683,570 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,095,000 after purchasing an additional 148,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRK shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho raised shares of Comstock Resources from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank cut Comstock Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $9.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Comstock Resources from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.78.

Comstock Resources Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of CRK opened at $18.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.07 and a 52 week high of $19.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -103.88 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.91 and a 200-day moving average of $12.10.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $304.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.75 million. Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 4.93% and a negative return on equity of 3.88%. The business’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 business posted $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth B. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.98, for a total value of $169,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 107,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,827,591.36. This represents a 8.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $489,300 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.