NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gainey McKenna & Egleston announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (“Cabot Oil” or the “Company”) (NYSE: COG) in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of those who purchased or acquired the securities of Cabot Oil between October 23, 2015 and June 12, 2020, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for Cabot Oil investors under the federal securities laws.
The Complaint alleges Defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Cabot Oil had inadequate environmental controls and procedures and/or failed to properly mitigate known issues related to those controls and procedures; (ii) Cabot Oil failed to fix faulty gas wells that were polluting Pennsylvania’s water supplies through stray gas migration; and (iii) Cabot Oil continually downplayed its potential civil and/or criminal liabilities with respect to environmental matters. These issues were foreseeably likely to subject Cabot Oil to increased governmental scrutiny and enforcement, as well as increased reputational and financial harm, and would also materially impact Cabot Oil’s financial results. Defendants’ false statements and omissions caused Cabot Oil stock to trade at artificially inflated prices throughout the Class Period.
On July 26, 2019, Cabot Oil filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The Form 10-Q disclosed that the Company had received two proposed Consent Order and Agreements related to two Notices of Violation it had received from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection two years earlier (in June and November 2017) for failure to prevent the migration of gas into fresh groundwater sources in the area surrounding Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. As a result of this news, the price of Cabot Oil stock declined 12%.
Then, on June 15, 2020, following a grand jury investigation, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office charged Cabot Oil with 15 criminal counts due to its failure to fix the faulty gas wells that had polluted Pennsylvania’s water supplies through stray gas migration. In announcing the charges, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, emphasized that defendants “put their bottom line ahead of the health and safety of our neighbors” and that “Cabot knows what they’ve done.” On this news, the price of Cabot Oil stock declined more than 3%.
Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Cabot Oil during the Class Period should contact the Firm prior to the January 12, 2021 lead plaintiff motion deadline. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you wish to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Thomas J. McKenna, Esq. or Gregory M. Egleston, Esq. of Gainey McKenna & Egleston at (212) 983-1300, or via e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected].
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