Chickasaw Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Chickasaw Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comstock Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,263 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,173,000 after acquiring an additional 60,830 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Comstock Resources by 13.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 46,858 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 5,411 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Comstock Resources by 144.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,645 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 3,929 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Comstock Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $278,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Comstock Resources by 280.7% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 409,406 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,556,000 after purchasing an additional 301,863 shares in the last quarter. 36.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

CRK traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.93. 3,109,754 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,608,246. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.62 and its 200 day moving average is $9.24. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.07 and a 52 week high of $13.39.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.05. Comstock Resources had a net margin of 4.27% and a return on equity of 1.25%. The business had revenue of $335.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 31.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comstock Resources news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue bought 12,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.04 per share, for a total transaction of $100,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 194,821,429 shares in the company, valued at $1,566,364,289.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRK shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Comstock Resources from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Capital One Financial downgraded Comstock Resources from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Comstock Resources to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.25.

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.