Preferreds firm toward month’s end; AGNC lists on Nasdaq; Ashford dips; U.S. Bancorp busy

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Aug. 28 – The preferred stock market was edging upward going into the final trading week of August.

However, volume remained constrained, as many desks were empty.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index closed up 1 basis point, though it was up 6 bps at mid-morning. The U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF firmed 12 bps, after being up just 1 bp earlier in the session.

Of the month’s new issues, AGNC Investment Corp.’s $300 million of 7% series C fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferred stock was admitted to the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Monday.

The ticker symbol is “AGNCN.”

The paper finished at $25.09, up from $25.01 at the open.

The deal came Aug. 15, pricing at the tight end of the 7% to 7.125% price talk. The deal was also increased from an expected $150 million.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS Securities LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, RBC Capital Markets LLC and Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. ran the books.

With the listing of the AGNC preferreds, only Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc.’s $85 million of 7.5% series H cumulative preferred stock was left trading over-the-counter.

The issue’s temporary ticker is “AHHSP.”

The preferreds were initially higher, but faded by the bell, closing off a dime at $24.55.

Ashford priced Aug. 16, coming upsized from $50 million. Initial price talk was 7.5% to 7.625%.

UBS Securities and Morgan Stanley were the joint bookrunners.

Away from recent deals, U.S. Bancorp’s 6.5% series F fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: USBPrM) yet again dominated trading, though this time, less than 1 million of the shares changed hands.

The preferreds ticked up 2 cents to $28.97, on just over 636,000 shares traded.

Meanwhile, Annaly Capital Management Inc.’s 6.95% series F fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds (NYSE: NLYPrF) rose similarly to the U.S. Bancorp issue, adding 2 cents to end at $25.04.

GSE-linked preferreds were also on the active side, relatively speaking. However, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper bucked the day’s modestly upward trend.

Fannie’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS) dropped a dime, or 1.54%, to $6.40. Freddie’s 8.375% fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FMCKJ) slid 9 cents, or 1.45%, to close at $6.12.

There was no news out to cause the weakness in the preferred issues.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.