Preferreds modestly firmer; GasLog prepares to list; Capitala over par; Fannie Mae dips

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, May 16 – The preferred stock market ended Tuesday’s session with a slightly positive tone, even as the broader markets finished the day mixed.

However, the day’s gains were hard won, especially given the constrained liquidity.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was positive throughout the day, ending up 8 basis points. But the U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF turned upward only in the final hour of trading, finishing 5 bps better.

The ETF was down 14 bps at mid-morning.

A trader commented that investors seemed to be laying low as they tried to figure out what the Trump Administration planned to do about everything from taxes to banking regulations.

“Whenever there is nothing concrete out here, everybody jumps to conclusions,” the trader said.

The trader also said the new issue calendar was looking a little light, though a real estate investment trust deal could be on the books for next week.

As for last week’s new issues, GasLog Partners LP’s 8.625% series A fixed-to-floating rate cumulative preference units are slated to list on the New York Stock Market on Wednesday.

The ticker symbol will be “GLOPPrA.” The paper has been trading under a temporary symbol, “GSFGF.”

The units closed at $25.40, up 11 cents.

In early Tuesday trading, the paper was around $25.15, a trader said.

“They’ve moved up nicely,” he said.

The $125 million deal came May 8. On Monday, the company said its $18.75 million greenshoe had been fully exercised, bringing the total amount outstanding to $143.75 million.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, UBS Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. led the deal.

Meanwhile, Capitala Finance Corp.’s 6% $25-par notes due 2022 – a $70 million deal priced May 10 – were seen at par bid, $25.10 offered.

The offering was upsized from $50 million and in line with price talk.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., BB&T Capital Markets, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, William Blair & Co. LLC and Wunderlich Securities Inc. ran the books.

Among already-listed issues, Fannie Mae’s variable rate series O noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMFN) topped the charts for the day. But the GSE-linked paper bucked the day’s firmer trend, losing 40 cents, or 3.27%, to close at $11.85.

Capital One Financial Corp.’s 5.2% series G noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: COFPrG) were another loser for the day, as the preferreds slipped a nickel to $23.74.

Still, most of the day’s most active issues followed the modestly upward trend.

Wells Fargo & Co.’s 5.625% series Y noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: WFCPrY), for instance, added 4 cents to end at $25.19.

NuStar Energy LP’s 7.625% series B fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferred units (NYSE: NSPrB) were another gainer, rising 14 cents to $25.46.

And, Ally Financial Inc.’s 8.125% series 2 fixed-to-floating rate trust preferred securities (NYSE: ALLYPrA) tacked on 3 cents, closing at $25.35.

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