Preferreds start in red, end in green; Entergy Louisiana bonds volatile; Annaly up

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Feb. 6 – Preferreds experienced a volatile trading session on Tuesday alongside the broader equity markets. Both the Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index and the U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF began the day in the red but ended in the green.

The volatility could be seen in Entergy Louisiana, Inc.’s first mortgage bonds 4.70% series due 2063, which were up, then down, then up again in high volume trading.

Annaly Capital Management Inc.’s 6.95% series F cumulative redeemable preferred stock also saw heavy trading volume during Tuesday’s session. The preferred stock traded up, although with less volatility than the broader markets.

As the roller coaster ride in the equity markets continues, Sotherly Hotels LP is planning to bring an offering of three-year fixed-rate $25-par notes. The offering was announced prior to market open Monday but has yet to price.

Preferreds market volatile

As the broader equity markets seesawed between the positive and the negative on Tuesday, so too did preferreds.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index was down 4.27 basis points early in Tuesday’s session. But then the index saw a sharp upswing and ended Tuesday better by 7.87 basis points.

The U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF was down 0.48% early in Tuesday’s session but also rallied to end the day up by 0.19%.

Entergy volatile

The volatility in the broader markets could be seen in Entergy Louisiana’s first mortgage bonds 4.70% series due 2063. The bonds were up, then down, then up again in high volume trading.

The bonds were up 58 cents, or 2.49%, to $23.81 early in Tuesday’s session. The bonds briefly fell into negative territory, but were up again a short time later.

The bonds were up 19 cents, or 0.82%, to $23.42 shortly before noon. After trading to a low of $22.84 and a high of $23.86, the bonds ended Tuesday at $23.86, an increase of 63 cents, or 2.71%.

Annaly sees high volume

Annaly’s 6.95% series F cumulative redeemable preferred stock made gains in heavy volume trading during Tuesday’s session, although with less volatility than the broader markets.

The preferreds were up 1 cent, or 0.04% to $25.04 shortly before noon. The preferreds continued to climb throughout Tuesday’s session, ending the day at $25.15, an increase of 12 cents, or 0.48%.

Trading volume for the 6.95% preferreds exceeded their three-month average early in the session. The preferreds saw 296,000 shares changing hands compared to the three-month average volume of 131,000.

© 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.