Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Misled Investors Regarding its Internal Controls over Financial Reporting
A shareholder filed a class action on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HBNC) between March 9, 2022 and March 10, 2023. Horizon operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank, which provides a range of commercial and retail banking services.
According to the complaint, defendants failed to disclose that: (i) the Company maintained deficient internal accounting controls relating to its classification of certain loan balances and securities; (ii) as a result of the foregoing deficiencies, throughout 2022 the Company issued quarterly financial statements containing errors that would require subsequent revision; and (iii) restatement of the foregoing financial statements would hinder the Company’s ability to timely file its annual report for 2022.
On March 10, 2023, Horizon filed a notice of the Company’s inability to timely file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 with the SEC, announcing receipt of a notice from NASDAQ as a result of failing to timely file its annual report, as well as disclosing that it had identified material weaknesses in its internal controls. On this news, Horizon’s stock price fell $1.43 per share, or 10.96%, to close at$11.62 per share on March 13, 2023.
What Now: Similarly situated shareholders may be eligible to participate in the class action against Horizon. Shareholders who want to act as lead plaintiff for the class must file their papers by June 19, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.