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

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 4,517 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average daily volume of 2,353 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Comstock Resources in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Comstock Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Comstock Resources from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Comstock Resources has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comstock Resources news, Director Elizabeth B. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total transaction of $156,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 143,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,245,859.22. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $489,300 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comstock Resources

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Comstock Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,338 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 13,998 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at about $169,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 256.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,614 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 111,934 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 74.1% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 50,127 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 21,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.13% of the company's stock.

Comstock Resources Stock Down 3.7 %

Comstock Resources stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.22. 2,352,201 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,338,703. Comstock Resources has a 1-year low of $7.07 and a 1-year high of $19.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.01. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -101.22 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 company posted $0.04 EPS. The business's revenue was down 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.