NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/aosmith/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of purchasers of A.O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS) common stock during the period between July 26, 2016 and May 16, 2019 (the “Class Period”). This action was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin and is captioned Bleier v. A.O. Smith Corporation, et al., No. 19-cv-00786.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased A.O. Smith common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or Brian E. Cochran of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. You can view a copy of the complaint as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/aosmith/.
The complaint charges A.O. Smith and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A.O. Smith is a leading manufacturer and marketer of water heaters and boilers.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period the defendants failed to disclose that the Company had used a distribution partner, Jiangsu UTP Supply Chain (“UTP”), to artificially inflate the Company’s sales and gross margins in the important Chinese market. As a result of this adverse information being withheld from the market, the price of the Company’s stock was artificially inflated during the Class Period.
On May 16, 2019, analyst firm J Capital Research USA LLC (“J Capital”) published a report alleging that A.O. Smith used several manipulative practices to show higher sales and earnings in its China operations. The report stated that A.O. Smith had undisclosed business relationships and entanglements with UTP, accounting for up to 75% of the Company’s product sales in China. The report also questioned whether A.O. Smith had unencumbered access to more than $530 million in cash on hand it claimed to hold in China. On this report, the price of A.O. Smith shares declined 6%.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of A.O. Smith common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller is a national law firm representing investors in securities litigation. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For five consecutive years, ISS Securities Class Action Services has ranked the Firm in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report as one of the top law firms in both the amount recovered for shareholders and the total number of class action settlements. Robbins Geller attorneys have helped shape the securities laws and recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of aggrieved victims. Beyond securing financial recoveries for defrauded investors, Robbins Geller also advocates for corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.
