NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG), Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK), Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS), and STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA). 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.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG)
Class Period: October 23, 2015 to June 12, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 13, 2020
Cabot was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Cabot is an independent oil and gas company that explores for, exploits, develops, produces, and markets oil and gas properties in the U.S.
Cabot primarily focuses its oil and gas efforts on the Marcellus Shale located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Cabot’s gas procuring activities in Pennsylvania have been the subject of controversy for over a decade, with the Company repeatedly denying any responsibility for environmental damage observed in the state.
On July 26, 2019, Cabot filed a quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC, reporting the Company’s financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 (the “2Q19 10-Q”). The 2Q19 10-Q disclosed that the Company had received two proposed Consent Order and Agreements (“CO&As”) related to two Notices of Violation (“NOVs”) it had received from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“PaDEP”) back in June and November, 2017, respectively, for failure to prevent the migration of gas into fresh groundwater sources in the area surrounding Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.
Following the release of the 2Q19 10-Q, Cabot’s stock price fell $2.63 per share, or 12.07%, to close at $19.16 per share on July 26, 2019.
Then, on June 15, 2020, during pre-market hours, following a grand jury investigation, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office charged Cabot with fifteen criminal counts arising from its failure to fix faulty gas wells, thereby polluting Pennsylvania’s water supplies through stray gas migration.
On this news, Cabot’s stock price fell $0.67 per share, or 3.34%, to close at $19.40 per share on June 15, 2020.
The complaint, filed on August 13, 2020, 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) Cabot had inadequate environmental controls and procedures and/or failed to properly mitigate known issues related to those controls and procedures; (ii) as a result, Cabot, among other issues, failed to fix faulty gas wells, thereby polluting Pennsylvania’s water supplies through stray gas migration; (iii) the foregoing was foreseeably likely to subject Cabot to increased governmental scrutiny and enforcement, as well as increased reputational and financial harm; (iv) Cabot continually downplayed its potential civil and/or criminal liabilities with respect to such environmental matters; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
For more information on the Cabot Oil & Gas class action go to: https://bespc.com/COG
Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK)
Class Period: July 27, 2020 to August 11, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 13, 2020
The securities class action concerns several matters, including the suspicious timing of insider trading activity in connection with Kodak’s July 28, 2020 announcement that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. government to receive a $765 million loan to produce pharmaceutical ingredients.
As news of the deal broke, Kodak, which had been trading under $2 per share, skyrocketed, and within two days, the stock was trading around $60 per share, with 284 million shares changing hands. Just prior to the announcement of the loan, insiders purchased or were granted over 2 million shares of Kodak stock.
More specifically, the day before the deal was announced, the company granted CEO James Continenza options for 1.75 million shares, just under 29% of which vested immediately. As a result of the suspicious timing of the announcement, lawmakers have asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time Kodak learned it could receive the government loan, and the SEC has announced an investigation. On August 7, 2020, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation said it was holding up the payout of the loan as regulators look into insider trading activity.
On this news, the Company’s stock price declined $4.15, or 28%, from $14.88 per share on August 7, 2020, to $10.73 per share on August 10, 2020.
The complaint, filed on August 13, 2020, alleges that during the Class Period defendants engaged in a scheme to deceive the market and a course of conduct that artificially inflated the prices of Kodak’s securities and operated as a fraud or deceit on Class Period purchasers of Kodak’s securities by failing to disclose to investors that the company’s financial results were materially misleading and misrepresented material information. When defendants’ misrepresentations and fraudulent conduct were disclosed and became apparent to the market, the prices of Kodak’s securities fell precipitously as the prior inflation came out of the Company’s stock price.
For more information on the Kodak class action go to: https://bespc.com/KODK
Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS)
Class Period: March 17, 2020 to July 5, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 19, 2020
Genius conducted a nonstop campaign of hype and press releases to boost the share price of Genius shares. These releases touted the intellectual properties connected to Genius and, among other things, hyped the launch of its new free educational multimedia platform, the “Kartoon Channel!” app. These releases had their intended effect, as the price of Genius shares skyrocketed.
But the Genius story was not all that it seemed. On June 5, 2020, Hindenburg Research published a report titled “A Bagholder’s Guide to Why We Think Genius Brands Will Be a $1.50 Stock Within a Month” (the “Hindenburg Research Report”). This report questioned the valuation of Genius and highlighted inaccurate public statements made by Genius.
On July 2, 2020, Genius issued a press release touting that a “Key Business Development” would be announced on July 6, 2020. This vague announcement significantly boosted the stock price, as the price jumped from $2.31 on July 1, 2020 to $3.55 on July 2, 2020.
The July 6th announcement, however, was another exaggerated press release whereby Genius announced the creation of a joint venture with POW! Entertainment regarding the intellectual property that Stan Lee created after his time at Marvel Entertainment. Defendant Heyward stated that “[t]he potential value in this single asset, is greater than any IP anywhere in Hollywood.”
With these exaggerated statements, investors realized that there was little substance behind the hype. Following the July 6, 2020 press release, the price of Genius stock dropped significantly from a close of $3.55 on the previous trading day to a closing price of $2.66 on July 6, 2020.
The complaint, filed on August 18, 2020, alleges throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements regarding: (i) Nickelodeon’s purported broadcast expansion of Genius’s Rainbow Rangers cartoon; (ii) subscription fees for the Kartoon Channel!; and (iii) the Company’s growth potential and overall prospects as a company. While the share price of Genius stock was artificially inflated due to these misstatements, Genius registered for sale tens of millions of shares, allowing certain longtime investors to cash out at the expense of Plaintiff and the Class.
For more information on the Genius class action go to: https://bespc.com/GNUS
STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA)
Class Period: February 26, 2020 to August 10, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 19, 2020
STAAR designs, develops, manufactures, and sells implantable lenses for the eye and companion delivery systems used to deliver the lenses into the eye. STAAR’s primary products are: (1) “implantable Collamer® lenses,” or “ICLs,” used in refractive surgery; and (2) intraocular lenses, or “IOLs,” used in cataract surgery.
On August 5, 2020, after the markets closed, STAAR announced its financial results for the quarter ended July 3, 2020, reporting a net loss of $0.03 per share, versus net income of $0.08 per share in the prior year quarter, among other things.
On this news, the company’s share price dropped approximately 10%, from a closing share price of $61.81 on August 5, 2020, to a close on August 6, 2020 at $55.86.
On August 11, 2020, analyst J Capital Research Limited published a report stating that “[w]e think STAAR Surgical has overstated sales in China by at least one-third, or $21.6 mln. That would mean that all of the company’s $14 mln in 2019 profit is fake.” J Capital stated that the report was based on “over 75 interviews,” as well as visits to STAAR locations in China and Switzerland.
On this news, STAAR’s stock price sharply declined, closing at $48.25 on August 11, 2020, down approximately 6.2% from its August 10, 2020 closing price of $51.42.
The complaint, filed on August 19, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts to investors. Specifically, defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose to investors that the Company was overstating and/or mischaracterizing: (1) its sales and growth in China; (2) its marketing spend; (3) its research and development expenses; and that as a result of the foregoing, (4) defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
For more information on the STAAR class action go to: https://bespc.com/STAA
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com