Vons Shares Up $1.125, Volume Keeps Rising
Vons Cos. shares kept climbing Thursday, rising $1.12 1/2 to $20.87 1/2 on a volume of 674,000 shares, about 10 times the normal trading level. The stock has been gaining all week, up from Friday’s close of $17.25.
In the most recent issue of Barron’s, the weekly business paper, money manager Ronald McGlynn of the Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn investment firm in New York highlighted Vons as a growth company, saying he expects the stock to rise to $60 a share within two years.
Mary M. McAboy, director of investor relations at the El Monte-based supermarket company, declined Thursday to go beyond a previous statement that the company knew of no development in its business that has not been publicly announced that would account for the unusual trading.
Analysts have generally ruled out the notion of a takeover, at least any time soon. Vons has standstill agreements with two prominent investors, the Robert M. Bass Group and Safeway Stores, which is controlled by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
