ORLANDO, Fla. -- SeaWorld Entertainment announced Monday it reached a preliminary settlement with the Securities and Exhange Commission related to possible federal securities law violations.

The company would agree to pay a $4 million fine, without admitting to or denying allegations stemming from an SEC investigation. 

SeaWorld revealed in a June 2017 filing that it was under investigation by both the SEC and Department of Justice.

The settlement would still need to be approved by the SEC.

The company has been under investigation for public statements executives made in August 2014 and earlier about the impact "Blackfish" had on SeaWorld's attendance and revenue. 

The 2013 documentary took aim at SeaWorld's pratice of keeping orcas captive.  

Since the release of the film, SeaWorld has struggled to regain growth at its 12 parks across the U.S., including SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego.

In response, SeaWorld announced in 2016 it would be ending its orca breeding program and phasing out theatrical orca shows, first at SeaWorld San Diego in 2017 and then in Orlando and San Antonio in 2019.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Orca Protection and Safety Act into law in September 2016, banning the breeding of killer whales in captivity and theatrical shows featuring whales. Similar bills introduced in Florida and Congress were not passed. 

The settlement disclosure came as SeaWorld revealed its second-quarter financial results. 

Attendance was up nearly 5 percent with 6.4 million people visiting the company's parks. Revenue was also up nearly 5 percent, compared to the same time period last year, at $392 million.

Executives remain optimistic, outling plans to build further growth in the next few years.

However, SeaWorld still faces challenges, expecially in Orlando with competitors like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando ramping up resort offerings.

The company is also likely bracing for a drop in European visitors.

UK travel company Thomas Cook Group recently announced plans to no longer sell tickets to SeaWorld.

In a blog post, CEO Peter Fankhauser said the company audited 49 animal attractions, and elected to stop promoting 29 attractions that it found to not be "100 percent compliant with ABTA animal welfare standards."

"When we introduced that policy, we recognized that customer expectations were changing when it comes to animal attractions," Fankhauser wrote. "We also talked about the important role tourism has to play during the transition to ending practices that are known to harm animals."

Visit Florida estimates more than 2.2 million people from the United Kingdom, Germany and France visit the state each year. All three are places serviced by Thomas Cook Group. 

The company says it sells tens of thousands of tickets each year to SeaWorld.

SeaWorld said in a statement that its three Florida theme parks (SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove, and Busch Gardens Tampa) passed audits for animal-welfare practices.

The company went on to say that Thomas Cook's decision was "not based on science, fact or reality."

"Thomas Cook claims that 90 percent of their customers are concerned about animal welfare. We applaud those concerns and join them in their desire to ensure all animals at zoological facilities are cared for. However, Thomas Cook fails to show any correlation between those concerns and the welfare of the animals at our parks."

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Digital media producer Ashley Carter contributed to this report.