It might be the result of a...

It might be the result of a bull rally in a bear market--or simply bargain hunters taking advantage of depressed prices--but there was a flurry of insider buying in some of San Diego’s depressed stocks, according to Irving Katz, director of research for Thomas Green/San Diego Securities.

PS Group gained 2 3/4 to 24 3/4 as Tweedy Browne Co. and TBK Partners raised their stake to 13% with the purchase of an additional 113,450 shares at prices ranging between 22 1/2 and 24. PS Group Chairman J.P. Guerin also raised his holdings to 9.5% with the purchase of an additional 100,000 shares in the 22 to 23 range, according to Katz.

IRT Corp. was up one-eighth to 1 3/4 after the announcement that an Atlanta investor had bought 438,436 shares, or 9.2% of IRT’s outstanding stock.

Henley Group gained 2 to 20 3/8 as it continued to pursue its threatened takeover of Santa Fe Southern Pacific--which last week announced it had broken off negotiations with Henley.

Some San Diego stocks which were battered heavily in recent months regained some momentum during the past week, Katz said.

Price Co. gained 3 3/4 to 28; Molecular Biosystems gained 1 3/4 to 11 1/8 and Xscribe was up 1 1/2 to 3 7/8, Katz said.

On the down side, Northview Corp. dropped 2 to 17 after news of a shareholder suit, which cast doubt over a $22 per-share buyout proposal by Los Angeles-based Calmark. However, Paine Webber on Monday reported to Northview that the $22 price was fair, Katz said.

Guild Mortgage Investments was down an additional one-eighth--after a 2 3/4 drop last week--after the announcement that a 15-cent dividend would be paid despite a fourth-quarter loss.

Cubic Corp. dropped seven-eighths to 14 after announcing poor fourth-quarter earnings of 11 cents compared to 32 cents a year ago, and year-end earnings of $1.04 compared to $1.25 the previous year.

International Robomation Intelligence continued to drop as it gave up another one-half to 2 with news of a $3.2-million, third-quarter loss.