Morning Commentary: Customers Bancorp offers $25-par preferreds; Entergy Mississippi frees to trade

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Sept. 9 – The preferred stock primary market showed no signs of letting up on Friday, as Customers Bancorp Inc. announced an offering of series F fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferred stock.

At an expected amount of $50 million, the issue is the smallest of the week. However, a trader still deemed the offering as “interesting.”

“We haven’t seen [a fixed-to-float issue] that’s $25-par in awhile,” he noted. “So that should be snapped up by institutional buyers.”

Price talk on the non-rated deal is 6% to 6.125%. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC are running the books.

From Thursday’s business, Entergy Mississippi Inc.’s $260 million of 4.9% $25-par first mortgage bonds due 2066 had freed to trade as of mid-morning, a trader reported.

The trader saw the issue trading “around $24.90.”

Meanwhile, Associated Banc-Corp’s $100 million of 5.375% series D noncumulative preferreds – a deal priced Wednesday – continued to gain momentum.

A trader pegged the paper at $25.25 bid, $25.40 offered.

And from Tuesday, Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp.’s $135 million of 6.125% series C cumulative redeemable preferreds were seen offered at par.

Market sources were also reporting that the calendar was expected to stay active next week.

“I’m hearing two big deals for next week,” one trader said, though he did not have any specifics.

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