HealthSouth Corp.s alleged accounting fraud is causing pains in mutual funds with the biggest holdings, The Wall Street Journal reports.
HealthSouths stock has seen a 97% plunge in share prices to about 11 cents on the Pink Sheet. Funds that have been most affected include the Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund, which doubled its HealthSouth holdings between July 31 and Jan. 31. HealthSouths delisting from the New York Stock Exchange has devalued the funds published stake by about $133 million.
Vanguard Health Care Fund recently sold shares in the company. As of Jan. 31, the fund held 10.9 million shares, but with HealthSouths delisting, those shares have declined in value from $41.7 million to about $1.2 million.
The $2.5 billion Strong Opportunity Fund, which had four million shares, or 0.64% of its portfolio, in HealthSouth, sold shares last week. "We came to the conclusion that wed rather get some portion back for our shareholders," portfolio manager of the fund told WSJ. "Getting something is better than getting nothing, which is what we think the stock is worth."
