A Bull-Bear Battle Over FleetCor

The bears and bulls caught FleetCor Technologies, Inc. FLT in a friendly game of tug-of-war Wednesday.

Citron Research pulled first with a morning tweet regarding fallout from FleetCor’s alleged fee scheme, specifically referencing a Chevron Corporation CVX lawsuit. The tweet, which sent the stock falling 11.3 percent, compounds last week's Citron report exposing FleetCor’s unethical business practices.

Soon enough, the stock rebounded $6.50 off a session low of $121.52 as traders circulated a December Barron's article that seemed to suggest the previous disclosure of the Chevron lawsuit. The bulls continued to thrust their weight behind the stock citing recent Bloomberg headlines that damages related to Chevron would amount to a mere $10,000.

See Also: Citron Investigation Reveals FleetCor Fee Scheme, Bets It Could Get Into The Criminal Round

The combined stimuli prompted a near $10 recovery, but within 10 minutes of the second thrust, the bearish Capitol Forum issued negative comments on FleetCor to trigger a $6 plunge.

In response to the surge, Citron’s Andrew Left told Benzinga the suit “validates that the possible reason why Chevron left them was for bad behavior.”

But that didn’t convince analysts.

Compass Point subsequently upgraded the stock, and JPMorgan defended the company, claiming that reactions to the Chevron report were overdone.

SunTrust was also out defending Fleetcoor, saying, "today's price action is indicative of the negative sentiment that continues to plague FLT shares. We encourage long-term investors to be opportunistic and add to positions at current levels."

Shares were trading around $125.78, down 8.9 percent, at time of publication.