omerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Gulfport Energy Corporation (“Gulfport” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GPOR) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and indexed under 20-cv-02357, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Gulfport securities between May 3, 2019, and February 27, 2020, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
Gulfport engages in the exploration, development, acquisition, and production of natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids in the U.S.
Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and operations. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) a material weakness existed in Gulfport’s internal control over financial reporting; (ii) accordingly, Gulfport’s disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective; (iii) as a result, Gulfport’s financial statements contained multiple misstatements; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On February 27, 2020, during after-market hours, Gulfport disclosed that its previously issued financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, “should no longer be relied upon due to material misstatements.”
Gulfport further advised investors that “the Company has reassessed its conclusions regarding its disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2019 in light of the misstatements,” and, “[a]s a result, the Company has determined that a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting existed as of September 30, 2019, and therefore the Company has concluded that its disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2019 were not effective.”
On this news, Gulfport’s stock price fell $0.08 per share, or 8.89%, to close at $0.82 per share on February 28, 2020.