Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $18.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 9.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CRK. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of 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. Mizuho raised shares of Comstock Resources from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $10.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comstock Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.40.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

NYSE CRK opened at $19.90 on Friday. Comstock Resources has a 12-month low of $7.07 and a 12-month high of $20.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.77 and its 200-day moving average is $12.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of -110.55 and a beta of 0.51.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last released its earnings results 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $308.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Comstock Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Comstock Resources

In other news, Director Elizabeth B. Davis sold 8,000 shares of Comstock Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total transaction of $145,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 99,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,313.44. This trade represents a 7.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $634,660. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comstock Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRK. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Comstock Resources by 140.0% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Comstock Resources by 2,533.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,582 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Comstock Resources by 116.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,715 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,611 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Comstock Resources during the second quarter worth about $105,000. 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.