NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of L brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB), National General Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NGHC), Mallinckrodt Plc (NYSE: MNK), and Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB (NASDAQ: OASM). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.
L Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 23, 2019
Class Period: May 31, 2018 to November 19, 2018
The complaint, filed on July 23, 2019, alleges that during the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding L Brands' business and prospects, which caused L Brands stock to trade at artificially inflated prices of more than $37 per share during the Class Period. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, prior to and during the Class Period, L Brands' Victoria's Secret and PINK businesses began to experience deteriorating operating performance due to, among other things, increased competition from new lingerie brands. In an attempt to drive sales and retain market share in the face of increasing competition, Victoria's Secret and PINK engaged in heavy promotional activities by offering consumers large discounts and even giving items free of charge. While this marketing strategy helped to mitigate sales declines, it adversely impacted the Company's profit margins and cash flows and had a deleterious impact on the Company's liquidity. In response to questions from securities analysts about the sustainability of the Company's dividends, defendants repeatedly stated that L Brands had sufficient cash flow and cash on hand to sustain its dividends and that the Company, "in its history, ha[d] never reduced the dividend." Then, just weeks after defendants issued a series of false and misleading statements about the Company's dividends, L Brands announced that it was cutting its dividend in half so that it could pay down existing debt. In response to this news, the price of L Brands common stock declined approximately 18%, from $34.55 per share on November 19, 2018 to $28.43 per share on November 20, 2018.
For more information on the L Brands class action go to: https://bespc.com/LB
National General Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NGHC)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 23, 2019
Class Period: August 6, 2015 to September 9, 2017
The complaint, filed on July 25, 2019, alleges that during the Class Period defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding National General’s business and operations. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose that National General, together with banking giant Wells Fargo, had engaged in a massive insurance scheme to bilk Wells Fargo customers out of millions of dollars. Through this scheme, National General forced thousands of customers to pay for auto insurance – commonly known as Collateral Protection Insurance (“CPI”) – that they did not need or want. National General served as Wells Fargo’s CPI vendor for all aspects of the program from July 2015 until the program was discreetly terminated in September 2016. Defendants possessed information showing that these customers already had their own insurance, but forced them to be subject to redundant, unnecessary, and overly expensive CPI policies anyway. In addition, while defendants were concealing their participation in the fraudulent CPI scheme from investors, they were reporting revenues and earnings results that had been artificially inflated by the illegitimate proceeds from the scheme. As a result of this information being withheld from the market, National General common stock traded at artificially inflated prices of more than $25 per share during the Class Period.
Then, on July 27, 2017, The New York Times published an article that revealed for the first time the CPI forced-placed insurance scheme. The article cited an internal report commissioned by Wells Fargo’s executives, which reportedly stated that more than 800,000 auto loan customers, including active military personnel, had paid for unnecessary CPI, pushing nearly 274,000 of them into delinquency and resulting in more than 20,000 unlawful vehicle repossessions. In the days that followed, attention increasingly turned to National General and its role in the scheme. The Company faced numerous regulatory investigations, congressional scrutiny, and civil lawsuits that caused a decline in the price of National General shares. Between July 26, 2017, before the story broke, and August 10, 2017, after the launch of a congressional inquiry into the scandal, the price of National General common stock fell more than 15%.
To learn more about the National General class action go to: https://bespc.com/NGHC.
Mallinckrodt Plc (NYSE: MNK)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 24, 2019
Class Period: February 28, 2018 to July 16, 2019
The complaint, filed on July 26, 2019, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Acthar posed significant safety concerns that rendered it a non-viable treatment for ALS; (ii) accordingly, Mallinckrodt overstated the viability of Acthar as an ALS treatment; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On July 16, 2019, post-market, Mallinckrodt announced that the Company was permanently discontinuing the PENNANT Trial assessing Acthar's safety and efficacy as an ALS treatment. Mallinckrodt stated that it decided "to halt the trial after careful consideration of a recent recommendation by the study's independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board" ("DSMB"), which "was based on the specific concern for pneumonia, which occurred at a higher rate in the ALS patients receiving Acthar Gel compared to those on placebo" and that "the board also mentioned other adverse events specific to this patient population." On this news, Mallinckrodt's stock price fell $0.64 per share, or 7.8%, to close at $7.56 per share on July 17, 2019.
For more information on the Mallinckrodt class action go to: https://bespc.com/MNK
Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB (NASDAQ: OASM)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 27, 2019
Class Period: October 23, 2015 to July 9, 2019
According to the complaint, on June 28, 2019, Oasmia issued a press release that stated it was reporting suspicious transactions made between Oasmia and related partners Alceco and Ardenia to the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and appointing a special examiner to review them. On this news, shares of Oasmia fell $0.319 per share, or almost 24%, to close at $1.021 per share on June 28, 2019, damaging investors.
On July 9, 2019, after the close of the market, Oasmia issued another press release that stated it had ended its relationship with former executive chairmen Julian Aleksov because of the transactions mentioned in the Company’s June 28, 2019 press release. On this news, shares of Oasmia fell $0.34, or over 13%, to close at $2.26 per share on July 10, 2019, further damaging investors. As a result of defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s common shares, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
For more information on the Oasmia class action go to: https://bespc.com/OASM
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a New York-based law firm concentrating in commercial and securities litigation. For additional information about Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. please go to www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contacts
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com