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NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of health insurer WellCare Health Plans Inc., which have lost about 75 percent of their value in the past month, rose Monday after WellCare reported preliminary third-quarter results above analyst estimates, offered more details about a government investigation into the company. Before Monday's trading began, WellCare confirmed a former employee filed a lawsuit against the company last month, as several analysts had suspected. The suit led to an Oct. 24 raid on the company's Tampa, Fla., headquarters by the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, and Florida authorities. The complaint against WellCare and one of its subsidiaries is sealed, and further details were not available. Shares rose $5.93, or 21.7 percent, to close at $33.30 Monday. Shares dropped as low as $20.81 last week. WellCare also delayed its third-quarter earnings report Monday, reported preliminary adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share on $1.43 billion in revenue, up 42 percent from last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit $1.52 per share and $1.36 billion in revenue. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Thomas Carroll upgraded the health insurer to "Hold" from "Sell" Monday, although he said more bad news is likely to come, and it is impossible to know when it will arrive. In the worst imaginable scenario -- the company is found to have bribed legislators to gain government contracts -- the company would be worth about $34 per share, he said.
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