DALLAS (Legal Newsline) – Shareholders of ExxonMobil have filed a class action lawsuit about its return on its Permian Basin assets.
The plaintiffs firms Nix Patterson and Kessler Topaz filed suit Feb. 17 in Texas federal court against the company, months after they say a Wall Street Journal report cited employees who said the company’s $60 billion valuation of an area of the basin was inflated by $20 billion.
Exxon stock fell $2.42 during the class period – a 5% drop to $47.89 per share on Jan. 15. By Feb. 24, the company’s stock had rebounded – and then some – to $55.10 per share.
“(T)he company’s aggressive production goals in the Permian Basin were unrealistic and overly optimistic,” the lawsuit says. “The company therefore faced an increased risk of heightened regulatory scrutiny.”
A whistleblower complaint has initiated a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, the suit says.