Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,696,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,438,252 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.00% of Comstock Resources worth $121,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 469,512 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 49,626 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,204,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,665,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,717,000. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. 36.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRK opened at $10.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.18 and a beta of 0.48. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.07 and a 12 month high of $13.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.04). Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a negative return on equity of 1.38%. The company had revenue of $246.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.02 million. Comstock Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post -0.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CRK. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Comstock Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $5.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.58.

Insider Activity at Comstock Resources

In related news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue purchased 825,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.82 per share, with a total value of $7,284,155.76. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 197,298,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,740,169,815.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Drilling L.P. Arkoma acquired 592,246 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.54 per share, for a total transaction of $6,834,518.84. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 208,219,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,402,858,707.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue acquired 825,868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.82 per share, for a total transaction of $7,284,155.76. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 197,298,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,169,815.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 6,712,733 shares of company stock valued at $67,816,851. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.