NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 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 Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ: TILE), Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG), Biogen, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), and Stride, Inc. (NYSE: LRN) (f/k/a K12, Inc.). 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.
Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ: TILE)
Class Period: March 2, 2018 to September 28, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 11, 2021
On April 24, 2019, Defendants filed a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC, disclosing, inter alia, that Interface “received a letter in November 2017 from the [SEC] requesting that the Company voluntarily provide information and documents in connection with an investigation into the Company’s historical quarterly [EPS] calculations and rounding practices during the period 2014-2017”; that “[t]he Company subsequently received subpoenas from the SEC in February 2018, July 2018 and April 2019 requesting additional documents and information”; and that “[i]n the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company conducted at the SEC's request an internal investigation into these and other related issues for seven quarters in 2015, 2016 and 2017.”
On this news, Interface’s stock price fell $1.43 per share, or 8.37%, to close at $15.66 per share on April 25, 2019.
Then, on September 28, 2020, the SEC announced the conclusion of its investigation into Interface's historical quarterly EPS calculations and rounding practices. Interface agreed to pay a $5 million fine to resolve the matter and was ordered to cease and desist from violating the federal securities laws. In the SEC’s enforcement order issued that same day, the SEC also disclosed how, inter alia, “Interface employees caused Interface to produce documents in response to Commission investigative requests that were suggestive of contemporaneous support for journal entries that, in truth, did not exist at the time the entries were recorded,” and had modified certain documents after the SEC’s investigation began.
On this news, Interface’s stock price fell $0.20 per share, or 3.13%, over the following two trading sessions to close at $6.18 per share on September 29, 2020.
The complaint, filed on November 12, 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) Interface had inadequate disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; (ii) consequently, Interface, inter alia, reported artificially inflated income and earnings per share (“EPS”) in 2015 and 2016; (iii) Interface and certain of its employees were under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) with respect to the foregoing issues since at least as early as November 2017, had impeded the SEC’s investigation, and downplayed the true scope of the Company’s wrongdoing and liability with respect to the SEC investigation; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
For more information on the Interface class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/TILE
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG)
Class Period: October 23, 2015 to June 12, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 12, 2021
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/cases/COG
Biogen, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB)
Class Period: October 22, 2019 to November 6, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 12, 2021
On November 6, 2020, Reuters published an article entitled “FDA advisory panel convenes to discuss whether Biogen Alzheimer's drug should be approved” which stated that “Biogen shares were halted ahead of the advisory panel meeting.” Later on November 6, 2020, Reuters published an article entitled “U.S. FDA panel votes cannot ignore unsuccessful trial data on Biogen Alzheimer's drug.”
On this news, Biogen’s stock price fell $92.64 per share, or 28%, to close at $236.26 per share on November 9, 2020, the next trading day.
The complaint, filed on November 13, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the larger dataset did not provide necessary data regarding aducanumab’s effectiveness; (2) the EMERGE study did not and would not provide necessary data regarding aducanumab’s effectiveness; (3) the PRIME study did not and would not provide necessary data regarding aducanumab’s effectiveness; (4) the data provided by the Company to the FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee did not support finding efficacy of aducanumab; and (5) as a result, defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
For more information on the Biogen securities class action case go to: https://bespc.com/cases/BIIB
Stride, Inc. (NYSE: LRN) (f/k/a K12, Inc.)
Class Period: April 27, 2020 to September 18, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 19, 2021
Stride is a technology-based education company that provides proprietary and third-party educational curriculum, teacher training, administrative support, information technology support, software systems and educational services. The Company operates virtual learning systems worldwide.
Contrary to the facts asserted by Stride, reports began to surface that Stride’s training for teachers in Miami-Dade County—one of the nation’s largest school districts—had been woefully inadequate.
On this news, the price of Stride common shares sharply fell by 7% over the course of two trading days, to close at $37.70 on August 27, 2020.
Once classes began on August 31, 2020, the situation worsened. Stride experienced major technical issues and disruptions with teachers and students of Miami-Dade County being unable to even log into the platform and utilize its contents, which prompted local officials to publicly scold Stride for being “not ready” for the opening of the school year. In response to the overwhelming amount of complaints by outraged parents, MiamiDade County School District called a Board meeting to discuss Stride’s many failures. During the meeting, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho revealed that he never signed the $15.3 million no-bid contract with Stride and the school district had never paid Stride for the provision of its services and products.
On this news, the price of Stride common shares fell 10.5% over the course of two trading days, to close at $34.89 on September 3, 2020.
A week later, after another Board meeting that lasted for over 13 hours and included 400 speakers, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Board voted to terminate their $15.3 million contract with Stride on September 10, 2020.
On this news, the price of Stride common shares again fell drastically, by 11.5%, to close at $30.55 on September 10, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Beaufort County School District in South Carolina engaged Stride to provide virtual learning programs for their students. However, the introduction of the program had to be delayed until the second week of instruction. Soon after, Beaufort County School District board member John Dowling stated that he had lost confidence in Stride’s ability to provide educational solutions for the district and moved to terminate the contract, which happened two days later.
On this news, the price of Stride common shares fell 4.9%, to close at $27.21 on September 18, 2020.
The complaint, filed on November 19, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors that: (i) Stride lacked the technological capabilities, infrastructures, and expertise to support the increased demand for virtual and blended education necessitated by the global pandemic; (ii) Stride lacked adequate cyberattack protocols and protections to prevent the disabling of its computer system; (iii) Stride was unable provide the necessary levels of administrative support and training to teachers, students, and parents; and (iv) based on the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects and/or lacked a reasonable basis and omitted facts.
For more information on the Stride class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/LRN
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