Investors Buy Large Volume of Comstock Resources Call Options (NYSE:CRK)

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 27,544 call options on the company. This is an increase of 902% compared to the typical volume of 2,748 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Siebert Williams Shank cut Comstock Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $9.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.30.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total value of $145,360.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 99,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,313.44. The trade was a 7.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $634,660. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRK. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comstock Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comstock Resources by 140.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Comstock Resources by 116.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Comstock Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.13% of the company’s stock.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

Comstock Resources stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.36. 2,213,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,839,413. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.72. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.68 and a beta of 0.51. 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 has a 52 week low of $7.07 and a 52 week high of $21.75.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $304.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Comstock Resources will post -0.43 earnings per share 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.