Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK)

Key Points

• Truist Financial initiated coverage of Comstock Resources with a “hold” rating and a $16 price target, implying approximately 22% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: nine analysts rate the stock “hold” and four rate it “sell,” producing a consensus “reduce” rating and average price target of $15.91.
• Comstock’s latest quarter beat EPS estimates, reporting $0.03 versus $0.02 expected, but revenue fell 24.9% year over year to $353.28 million, below forecasts.

Investment analysts at Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating and a $16.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock. Truist Financial's price objective points to a potential upside of 22.08% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Comstock Resources from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Comstock Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Comstock Resources from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Comstock Resources from $9.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $15.91.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRK opened at $13.11 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.14. Comstock Resources has a 1-year low of $12.12 and a 1-year high of $28.10.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $353.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $419.22 million. Comstock Resources had a net margin of 23.31% and a return on equity of 4.12%. Comstock Resources's revenue was down 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Comstock Resources will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comstock Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Comstock Resources during the second quarter worth $176,583,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $99,632,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 143.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,079,633 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $22,759,000 after buying an additional 635,781 shares during the last quarter. Gemsstock Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,186,000. Finally, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 861,858 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $18,168,000 after buying an additional 222,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.13% of the company's stock.

Comstock Resources Company Profile

Comstock Resources, Inc is an independent exploration and production company focused on finding, developing, acquiring and producing oil and natural gas in the United States. Its operations are primarily centered on natural gas and natural gas liquids, with production sold to commercial customers, utilities, marketers and other participants in energy markets.

The company's principal assets are located in the Haynesville and Bossier shale plays in North Louisiana and East Texas, one of the largest natural gas-producing regions in the United States.

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