SAN FRANCISCO, April 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges investors in ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV) who have suffered significant losses to submit their losses now. A securities fraud class action is pending and certain investors may have valuable claims.
Class Period: Feb. 26, 2019 – Nov. 4, 2019
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 9, 2020
Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SERV
Contact An Attorney Now: SERV@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895
ServiceMaster (SERV) Securities Class Action:
The complaint concerns Defendants’ concealment of the financial risks presented to ServiceMaster’s Terminix business arising from Formosan: an invasive termite impacting the Gulf Coast region, particularly Mobile, Alabama.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants represented that ServiceMaster was successfully executing upon initiatives to improve the performance in the Terminix segment. In addition, Defendants stated that Terminix would reach a positive “inflection point” and was “definitely the driver” for positive trends in the second half of 2019. Unbeknownst to investors, however, in the past several years the Terminix segment had experienced an adverse trend of costly termite litigation, primarily related to Formosan activity.
Investors began to learn the truth, according to the complaint, when the company announced disappointing preliminary Q3 2019 financial results on Oct. 22, 2019. Defendants blamed the poor performance on “termite damage claims arising primarily from Formosan termite activity” primarily in Mobile, Alabama. Defendants also announced (1) this was a known issue and the company commenced mitigation efforts “starting in 2018,” and (2) the President of Terminix Residential suddenly departed.
Then, on Nov. 5, 2019, ServiceMaster released its final Q3 2019 financial results, informing investors that (1) the increase in termite claims litigation that occurred “[i]n the past few years” impacted termite revenue by 7-8%, (2) these issues would continue throughout 2020, and (3) price increases in Mobile were part of an effort to “mitigate” termite damage claims.
These disclosures have driven the price of ServiceMaster shares sharply lower.
“We’re focused on investors’ losses and proving Defendants intentionally misled ServiceMaster investors about the financial health of its core Terminix business,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding ServiceMaster should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SERV@hbsslaw.com.
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Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895