Short Interest in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) Declines By 8.3%

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,960,000 shares, a decrease of 8.3% from the May 31st total of 29,390,000 shares. Currently, 29.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Comstock Resources Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of CRK stock traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $10.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,508,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,020,642. Comstock Resources has a 52-week low of $7.07 and a 52-week high of $13.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.87 and its 200-day moving average is $9.36.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comstock Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 13.1% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 46,858 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 5,411 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Comstock Resources by 144.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,645 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,929 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $366,000. Finally, KGH Ltd grew its stake in Comstock Resources by 119.3% in the third quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 8,586,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $94,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670,959 shares in the last quarter. 36.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CRK shares. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com raised Comstock Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Comstock Resources from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.25.

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.