Community Health Systems Inc (CYH)

[momentum74]

Link.Gimmie Credit Defending CYH. saying Tenets claims are overblown
MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — A feud over a hostile acquisition attempt has spilled into the courts, taking a big bite Monday out of shares of hospital operators Community Health Systems Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that Tenet /quotes/comstock/13*!thc/quotes/nls/thc (THC 6.52, +0.08, +1.24%) filed suit in U.S. District Court in Texas, accusing Community Health /quotes/comstock/13*!cyh/quotes/nls/cyh (CYH 25.84, -0.05, -0.19%) of using questionable admission practices that overstate its growth statistics.


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The accusation sent Community Health shares plummeting by more than 40% at one point, but they recovered somewhat and were down 34% to $26.64 in recent action.

Tenet’s shares also got hit, losing nearly 20% on an intraday basis before also drawing some buying interest. The shares were down 13% to $6.55 in recent action, down $1 from their April 8 close.

Tenet is trying to fend off a hostile bid from Community, which seeks to buy the Dallas-based hospital operator for $6 a share. Its lawsuit says Franklin, Tenn.-based Community systematically admits patients to hospitals when it should treat them as outpatients, thus overbilling Medicare in the process.

Community responded later in the day, charging Tenet with circulating “unfounded and irresponsible claims.”

“The bottom line is that these self-serving allegations are an attempt by Tenet’s management and board to continue their entrenchment strategy and to distract Tenet shareholders from [Community’s] pending offer,” Community said in a press release. “Its actions today prove that Tenet has adopted a ‘scorched-earth’ defense without regard for the best interests of shareholders.”

The legal accusation is one of several tactics Tenet has used, along with delaying its own 2011 shareholder meeting and adopting a “poison pill,” or shareholder-rights plan.

The news prompted S&P Equity Research to cut its rating on Community to sell from hold, but other analysts were skeptical of Tenet’s claims. Vicki Bryan of Gimme Credit wondered what evidence Tenet had of Community’s actions. She said if the allegations were true, Community would be seeing delays in insurance reimbursements from suspicious claims.

“Instead, Community’s days in accounts receivable as well as its general and adjusted admissions rates generally track the group average, which does not appear to support Tenet’s claims,” Bryan wrote in a note to clients. “In any case, Tenet has fired off all its cannons now in a last-ditch effort to remain independent. If Tenet doesn’t prevail, its generals may have just shot themselves.”
The news, however, dragged down the hospital sector in general.

Shares of HCA Holdings Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hca/quotes/nls/hca (HCA 32.30, +0.21, +0.65%) fell more than 3% to $31.98, while Universal Health Services Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!uhs/quotes/nls/uhs (UHS 47.62, +0.62, +1.32%) slid 2.2% to $47.69. Health Management Associates Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hma/quotes/nls/hma (HMA 10.11, -0.04, -0.43%) lost almost 7% to $9.95, and Kindred Healthcare Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!knd/quotes/nls/knd (KND 23.81, -0.13, -0.54%) declined more than 2% to $23.74.






http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bad-blood-poisons-community-tenet-shares-2011-04-11-121460?siteid=yhoof