Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,794,869 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 178,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.88% of Comstock Resources worth $119,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRK. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comstock Resources in the 1st quarter worth $310,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 21.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 240,161 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 42,001 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Comstock Resources by 58.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 54,147 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 19,984 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Comstock Resources by 12.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,076,353 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $92,347,000 after buying an additional 786,726 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Siebert Williams Shank initiated coverage on Comstock Resources in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Comstock Resources from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Comstock Resources to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Comstock Resources from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Comstock Resources from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Star Exploration Corp Blue purchased 12,500,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.04 per share, for a total transaction of $100,500,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Comstock Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

CRK traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $9.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,628,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,824,883. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $8.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.59. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.07 and a 1 year high of $13.39.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $410.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.97 million. Comstock Resources had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 13.49%. Comstock Resources's revenue was down 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current 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.