Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 11,857 Shares of Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 451,327 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 11,857 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Comstock Resources worth $9,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Comstock Resources by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,297,863 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $242,301,000 after purchasing an additional 227,638 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Comstock Resources by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,222,982 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $168,043,000 after purchasing an additional 126,380 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Comstock Resources by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,505,808 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $27,436,000 after purchasing an additional 91,988 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 779,410 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 89,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,891,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Comstock Resources to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Comstock Resources in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Comstock Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $12.00 price target (up from $6.00) on shares of Comstock Resources in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.82.

Comstock Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRK traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.30. 600,316 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,381,294. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $31.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of -20.98 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. Comstock Resources had a negative net margin of 23.39% and a negative return on equity of 0.67%. The company had revenue of $512.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $408.99 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 52.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.