NEW YORK, Jan. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder law firm, reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of HEXO Corp. (NYSE: HEXO), Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU), and Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMSI). 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.

HEXO Corp. (NYSE: HEXO)

Class Period: January 25, 2019 to November 15, 2019

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 27, 2020

Through a series of disclosures occurring between October 4, 2019 and November 15, 2019, the Company announced that it was producing cannabis in a section of its Niagara facility that was not properly licensed with Health Canada. As a result of these disclosures, the value of HEXO stock has consistently decreased, damaging investors.

The complaint, filed on November 26, 2019, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects.  Specifically, the Complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) HEXO’s reported inventory was misstated as the Company was failing to write down or write off obsolete product that no longer had value; (2) HEXO was engaging in channel-stuffing in order to inflate its revenue figures and meet or exceed revenue guidance provided to investors; (3) HEXO was cultivating cannabis at its facility in Niagara, Ontario that was not appropriately licensed by Health Canada; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

For more information on the HEXO class action go to: https://bespc.com/hexo

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU)

Class Period: February 15, 2019 to August 1, 2019

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 27, 2020

On July 31, 2019, the Company announced disappointing second quarter 2019 financial results and disclosed that the Company would take a pre-tax charge of $208 million as a result of its market experience update. In the earnings release, Prudential’s CEO acknowledged that changes in “mortality assumptions” had negatively impacted the Company’s results and would “trim” near-term momentum.

On August 1, 2019, the Company held a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2019 financial results. On the call, defendants revealed that the change in mortality assumptions would require a negative earnings impact of $25 million per quarter for the foreseeable future, wiping out approximately one third of the earnings attributable to the Individual Life business segment.

On this news, Prudential’s stock price declined more than 10%, to close at $91.09 per share on August 1, 2019.

Then on August 2, 2019, Prudential filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC for the second quarter of 2019, which provided additional information concerning the Company’s adjustments to operating income by segment, including that the $208 million pre-tax charge to reserves was entirely attributable to the Individual Life business segment.

On this news, Prudential’s stock price declined another 5.6%, falling to $88.56 per share on August 2, 2019 and to $85.95 per share on August 5, 2019.

The complaint, filed on November 27, 2019,  alleges that during the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding Prudential’s business and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose the following facts: (a) the Company’s reserve assumptions failed to account for adversely developing mortality experience in its Individual Life business segment; (b) the Company was not over-reserved, but instead, its reported reserves, particularly for the Individual Life business segment, were insufficient to satisfy its future policy benefits liabilities; and (c) the Company had materially understated its liabilities and overstated net income as a result of flawed assumptions in calculating mortality experience. As a result of this adverse information being withheld from the market, the price of Prudential common stock was artificially inflated to more than $105 per share during the Class Period.

To learn more about the Prudential Financial class action go to: https://bespc.com/pru

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU)

Class Period: February 26, 2019 to November 20, 2019

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 31, 2020

On November 20, 2019, General Motors Company (“GM”) filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler and its former executives, accusing Fiat Chrysler of bribing United Auto Workers officials to receive more favorable terms in labor negotiations. Specifically, GM alleged that Fiat Chrysler “corrupted” collective bargaining agreements between GM and UAW in 2009, 2011, and 2015 by paying millions in dollars in bribes, and that the alleged scheme was authorized at the highest levels of Fiat Chrysler, including the Company’s late Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne.

On this news, Fiat Chrysler’s stock price fell $0.58 per share, or 3.72%, to close at $15.00 per share on November 20, 2019.

The complaint, filed on December 2, 2019, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Fiat employed a bribery scheme to obtain favorable terms in its collective bargaining agreement with International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America; (2) high-ranking Fiat official were aware of and authorized the scheme; and (3) due to the foregoing, defendants’ statements about Fiat’s receivables, 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 Fiat Chrysler class action go to: https://bespc.com/fcau

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMSI)

Class Period: February 26, 2019 to October 30, 2019

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 3, 2020

On July 25, 2019, Merit announced disappointing second quarter 2019 financial results and cut its fiscal 2019 sales and earnings per share outlook. Defendants attributed these reductions to a variety of factors, including “slower than anticipated conversion and uptake of acquired products.”

On this news, the Company’s stock price declined more than 25%.

Then, on October 30, 2019, the Company announced its third quarter 2019 financial results, reporting adjusted earnings per share well below consensus estimates, and slashed fiscal 2019 revenue and earnings per share guidance by 20%. Furthermore, defendants stated that, in addition to the fiscal 2019 guidance cut, “2020 guidance [was] off the table” until they had reasonable confidence in their forecasting ability, and reported significant operational issues in all aspects of Merit’s business, conceding that many of these failures were due to their “own overestimation and forecasting.”

Following these disclosures, Merit’s stock price declined more than 29%, to close at $20.66 per share on October 31, 2019.

The complaint, filed on December 3, 2019, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information concerning Merit’s business and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose that: (a) the integrations of Cianna and Vascular Insights, including their products, sales people, and R&D facilities, had caused operational disruptions and reduced sales and were months behind schedule; (b) sales of acquired company products had slowed substantially due to pre-acquisition pipeline fill, in particular for Vascular Insights products which, as late as July 2019, had zero orders during fiscal 2019; and (c) in light of the foregoing, the Company’s reported financial guidance for fiscal 2019 and 2020 was made without a reasonable basis. As a result of defendants’ material misrepresentations and omissions, Merit stock traded at artificially inflated prices of more than $62 per share.

For more information on the Merit Medical class action go to: https://bespc.com/mmsi

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.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com