Head-To-Head Survey: Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) & Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD)

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) and Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

36.1% of Comstock Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of Chord Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Comstock Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Chord Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Comstock Resources and Chord Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comstock Resources	-4.93%	-3.88%	-1.48%
Chord Energy	19.74%	12.88%	8.91%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Comstock Resources and Chord Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comstock Resources	3	7	2	0	1.92
Chord Energy	0	1	11	1	3.00

Comstock Resources currently has a consensus target price of $11.78, indicating a potential downside of 39.97%. Chord Energy has a consensus target price of $180.25, indicating a potential upside of 47.02%. Given Chord Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Chord Energy is more favorable than Comstock Resources.

Risk & Volatility

Comstock Resources has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chord Energy has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Comstock Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Chord Energy pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Comstock Resources pays out -277.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chord Energy pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Comstock Resources and Chord Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comstock Resources	$1.30 billion	4.42	$211.12 million	($0.18)	-109.00
Chord Energy	$4.76 billion	1.57	$1.02 billion	$19.42	6.31

Chord Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Comstock Resources. Comstock Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chord Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Chord Energy beats Comstock Resources on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Comstock Resources, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arkoma Drilling, L.P.

About Chord Energy

Chord Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It acquires, explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the Williston Basin. The company sells its products to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to nearby pipeline and rail facilities. The company was formerly known as Oasis Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Chord Energy Corporation in July 2022. Chord Energy Corporation was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.