NEW YORK, March 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. ("Heartland" or the "Company") (NYSE:HPY) between August 5, 2008 and February 23, 2009, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The lawsuit charges Heartland and certain of the Company's executive officers with violations of federal securities laws. Heartland, together with its subsidiaries, provides bank card payment processing services to more than 250,000 merchants and businesses nationwide.
The lawsuit alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations and prospects. Specifically, defendants misrepresented or failed to disclose: (1) that the Company's safety and security measures designed to protect consumers' financial records and data from security breaches were inadequate and ineffective; (2) that the Company's payment processing system had been infected with malware as early as May 2008; (3) that defendants were made aware of a potential breach of Heartland's payment processing network; (4) that, as a result of the above, the Company faced liabilities associated with the breach and increasing costs associated with implementing appropriate security measures; (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company was at risk of losing customers; and (6) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls.
On January 20, 2009, Heartland revealed that the Company's payment processing network had been breached by malicious software, exposing tens of millions of debit cardholders to fraud. As consumers used their debit cards, so-called "sniffer software" had been capturing, among other things, card numbers, expiration dates and cardholder names. According to an article published that same day in The New York Times, the breach occurred as early as May 2008.
On this news, shares of Heartland declined $1.26 per share, or 8.16%, to close on January 20, 2009, at $14.18 per share, on unusually heavy volume. Over the next two days, shares of Heartland further declined $6.00 per share, or an additional 42.31%, to close on January 22, 2009 at $8.18 per share.
On February 24, 2009, Heartland again shocked investors when it reported earnings for the 2008 fiscal year and fourth quarter. The Company posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and disclosed that it might incur losses from the recent security breach of its system and that the Company could not estimate the amount of losses that might be incurred in connection with the security breach.
On this news, shares of Heartland declined $2.31 per share, or 30.12%, to close on February 24, 2009, at $5.34 per share, on unusually heavy volume. During the Class Period, shares of Heartland's common stock declined $21.84 per share, or approximately 80%, from its Class Period high of $27.19 per share on September 19, 2008.
If you purchased Heartland securities during the Class Period, you may, no later than May 5, 2009, request that the court appoint you lead plaintiff of the class. Although your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision whether or not to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, lead plaintiffs make important decisions that could affect the overall recovery for class members, including decisions concerning settlement.
If you wish to discuss this action, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact us, toll free, at (888) 529-4787 or by email at info.newcases@kmllp.com
Kirby McInerney LLP has specialized in complex litigation, including securities class actions, for several decades. The firm has repeatedly demonstrated its expertise in this field, and has been recognized by various courts which have appointed the firm to major positions in consolidated and multi-district litigation. The firm's efforts on behalf of shareholders in securities litigation have resulted in recoveries totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, and the firm's achievements and quality of service have been chronicled in numerous published decisions. More information about the firm, class actions in general, or about the role of the lead plaintiffs in a securities class action can be obtained through Kirby McInerney LLP's website at http://www.kmllp.com