Valeant (VRX) Stock Closed Down on Insider Trading Lawsuit
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) stock closed lower by 5.71% to $78.90 on Wednesday, after a judge ruled that the company and activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman must face a lawsuit accusing them of insider trading.
Ackman is one of Valeant's biggest shareholders, and recently upped his stake in the company by roughly 2 million shares.
Before Valeant announced a bid for Allergan in April, Ackman's fund Pershing Square Capital Management had taken a 9.7% stake in Allergan, Reuters reports. Allergan stock spiked after the potential takeover was announced, and investors claim Pershing knew Valeant was preparing a potentially hostile bid.
Valeant and Ackman claim that they did no wrong by sharing information before the bid, which became hostile, was public, Reuters adds.
Even so, the judge has "serious questions" about whether "substantial steps" were taken toward a hostile bid, according to Reuters. If so, Valeant should have revealed further information or Ackman should have stopped his Allergan share purchases.
The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who sold Allergan stock during the two months prior to the takeover bid's announcement.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL (VRX) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, unimpressive growth in net income and generally higher debt management risk.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 7.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 35.5%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- Net operating cash flow has increased to $736.40 million or 19.02% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -17.22%.
- VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL turned its bottom line around by earning $2.67 versus -$2.62 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($11.66 versus $2.67).
- The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. In comparison to the other companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry and the overall market, VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.
- Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 40.29%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 82.71% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Although its share price is down sharply from a year ago, do not assume that it can now be tagged as cheap and attractive. The reality is that, based on its current price in relation to its earnings, VRX is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: VRX
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.