Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Comstock Resources Call Options (NYSE:CRK)

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 10,542 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 334% compared to the typical volume of 2,428 call options.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRK opened at $9.28 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.69. Comstock Resources has a 52-week low of $7.07 and a 52-week high of $13.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Comstock Resources had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 5.65%. The business had revenue of $410.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Comstock Resources will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comstock Resources

In other Comstock Resources news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue purchased 12,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.04 per share, for a total transaction of $100,500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 194,821,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,566,364,289.16. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comstock Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRK. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 115.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,112,832 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $152,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,556,426 shares in the last quarter. KGH Ltd raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 119.3% during the 3rd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 8,586,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $94,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,670,959 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 1,460.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,864,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681,292 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,783,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $169,148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608,309 shares in the last quarter. 36.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRK. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Comstock Resources to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Siebert Williams Shank started coverage on Comstock Resources in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised Comstock Resources from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.17.

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.