S&L; Shares Hit Highs--Before the Fall

Shares in two local savings and loans hit all-time highs last week but the market’s $39 one-day drop quickly limited the duration of the high-water marks, according to Irving Katz, director of research at San Diego Securities.

Great American First Savings Bank, fresh from shareholder approval of its merger with Home Federal Savings of Arizona, hit a high of $24.50 on Wednesday, just before the market fell. It closed the week at $22.50.

Ditto with Home Federal S&L; in San Diego, which rose to its high of $31 before closing the week at $27.25.

Imperial Corp., meanwhile, fell from $10.375 to $8.375 in the week.

The savings and loans dropped, Katz said, because of the threat of higher interest rates, as the Federal Reserve Board has yet to lower the discount rate. The drop coincided, he added, with a substantial drop in the bond market last week, as interest rates ticked upward.

In other San Diego company news, Katz reported:

PSA moved to $28.125 from $26.375, despite its announcement that the airline subsidiary would be unprofitable in the last quarter.

Rohr advanced only a point after its two-for-one stock split.

Titan closed the week near its new high of $10.50 after favorable mention in Barron’s magazine last week and a 60-cents-per-share earnings projection for 1986.

Beeba’s Creations high a new high of $18 before settling at $17.25 after a modest first-quarter profit.

Decom Systems extended the expiration date for its warrants from Jan. 23 to Sept. 30, but there was little movement in the warrant price, exercisable at $3.81.

Kaypro continues to sell near its low of $1.25 as losses continue, while Medical Imaging Systems moved from $5.75 to $6.50 after absorbing the common stock produced by its warrant conversion.

Finally, Price Co., after hitting a new high of $78.50, closed down at $69.25 Monday. That follows reports of only a 22% increase in same-store sales from the prior year’s first quarter.