PhillyInc: The fickleness of share prices

It's not often you see a stock rise 213 percent in one day.

But that's what happened to SE Financial Corp. on Tuesday. Shares of the Philadelphia parent of St. Edmond's Federal Savings Bank closed at $13, up $8.85.

Literally overnight, a five-branch community bank with $303 million in assets added $19 million to its market value.

You can probably guess what would prompt such a move. Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc., of Philadelphia, agreed Monday afternoon to buy SE Financial for $14.50 per share in cash.

Conversely, shares of Beneficial Mutual fell 7 cents, or 0.8 percent,

to $8.65 on the news.

It makes sense that shares of the hunter decline while those of the hunted soar.

More often, changes in share prices seem to defy what news events might imply. For example, one of the biggest decliners among local stocks was Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack.

The Philadelphia auto-

parts retailer and service provider reported its 11th straight quarter of increased year-over-year profit late Monday. Plus, total revenue for its third quarter, ended Oct. 29, rose 5.2 percent to $522.17 million.

Pep Boys' net earnings of $7.01 million, or 13 cents per share, largely matched analyst expectations. And the retailer, which has been undergoing a turnaround under CEO Mike Odell since 2008, has been adding to its store and service-center count.

Yet, shares of Pep Boys declined 5.7 percent, or 67 cents, to close at $11.19.

But when you think about the business that Pep Boys, with its 729 stores, is in, it's not a stretch to wonder if one of its many competitors isn't doing even better.

In fact, AutoZone Inc., based in Memphis, released quarterly financial results Tuesday that show its net sales were up 7.4 percent and its net income up 11.1 percent.

Still, investors withheld their applause for the 4,832-store chain. Shares of AutoZone closed at $337.81, down $1.16, or 0.3 percent.

Pick a reason: higher gas prices, lower vehicle miles driven, overarching distraction from the European debt crisis. But good financials just weren't good enough Tuesday.