Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 439,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 12,257 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Comstock Resources worth $8,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRK. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Comstock Resources by 79.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 689,780 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,677,000 after acquiring an additional 304,780 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,731,000 after buying an additional 111,934 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Comstock Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,338 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,896,000 after buying an additional 13,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Comstock Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $419,000. 36.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Comstock Resources

In other Comstock Resources news, Director Elizabeth B. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total transaction of $156,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 143,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,245,859.22. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,000 shares of company stock worth $634,660. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CRK opened at $17.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.67. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.74 and a fifty-two week high of $22.06. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.14. Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 18.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $366.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $370.62 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CRK shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Comstock Resources from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Comstock Resources in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Comstock Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Comstock Resources from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Comstock Resources from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.40.

Comstock Resources 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.