New York Business.com
By: David Jones
Hain Celestial Group Inc. said Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry into its stock option practices.
The Melville, L.I.-based firm did not give any details about the probe, except to say that it would cooperate.
More than 200 companies around the national have been investigated by regulators or launched their own internal probes into stock options grants practices.
Shares of Hain fell as much as 2.6% to $28.68 in afternoon trading.
The company reported a 37% jump in quarterly profit to $12.4 million, or 30 cents a share, for the three-month period ended March 31. Sales rose 21% to $237.9 million.
Hain is one of the nation’s top maker of organic food and personal care products. Late last month, Hain agreed to buy the tofu business of WhiteWave Foods Co., a unit of Dean Foods Co. Terms of that agreement were not disclosed.
Hain was not available for immediate comment. The SEC declined comment.
