TriState preferreds free to trade; Gastar up on earnings; Regions Financial active

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., March 16 – While trading volume in the preferreds space has been light for much of the month, some names saw high-volume trading during Friday’s session.

TriState Capital Holdings Inc.’s recently priced 6.75% perpetual fixed-to-floating rate series A non-cumulative preferred stock (BB+) freed to trade for OTC market business on Friday under the temporary ticker “TSCLL.” They were active on Friday, ending the day above their issue price.

Regions Financial Corp.’s 6.375% depositary shares representing the company’s series A non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock was up in active trading that was almost 9 times the average trading volume.

Apollo Global Management LLC’s 6.375% $25-par perpetual preferred shares, which priced on Monday, dropped below par early in Friday’s session but rallied to end the day once again at par.

Gastar Exploration Inc.’s preferreds jumped early on Friday after the Houston-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company announced fourth-quarter and year-end earnings after the market close on Thursday.

TriState frees

TriState’s depositary shares representing the company’s 6.75% perpetual fixed-to-floating rate series A non-cumulative preferred stock freed for OTC market business on Friday under the temporary ticker “TSCLL.”

The depositary shares were volatile during Friday’s session. They traded to a low of $24.70 but closed the day well above their issue price.

The 6.75% preferreds closed Friday at $25.30, the highest trade of the day. The depositary shares saw high-volume trading their first full day in the market with 354,000 shares in play.

TriState priced $35 million, or 1.4 million shares, of the 6.75% preferreds after the market close on Thursday. The depositary shares will be listed for trade on Nasdaq under the ticker “TSC.P.”

Regions sees high volume

While the preferreds space has seen light trading volume for most of the month, some names experienced high trading volume on Friday.

Regions Financial’s depositary shares representing the financial holding company’s 6.375% series A preferred stock saw more than 9x their average trading volume on Friday.

The depositary shares made slight gains, closing Friday at $25.52, an increase of 3 cents or 0.12%. More than 445,000 shares were in play on Friday versus the average trading volume of about 50,000.

Apollo wavers

Apollo’s 6.375% preferreds, which freed for OTC market business under the ticker “APGGP,” were seen just below par at $24.99, a decrease of 1 cent or 0.04%, early Friday.

The preferreds ricocheted between $24.95 and $25.02 throughout the session but ended the day at $25.00, flush with Thursday’s close.

Apollo’s preferred priced on Monday.

Gastar’s earnings

While still trading at a deep discount, Gastar’s preferreds jumped on Friday after the company announced fourth-quarter and year-end earnings after the market close on Thursday.

Gastar’s 8.625% series A cumulative preferred securities traded up to $16.50, an increase of 75 cents or 4.76%, early in Friday’s session. The series A preferreds’ upward momentum continued throughout the session.

The series A preferreds closed Friday at $16.80, an increase of $1.05 or 6.67%.

Gastar’s 10.75% series B cumulative preferred stock traded up to $17.98, an increase of 65 cents or 3.75%, early Friday. The series B preferreds also continued to see gains as the session progressed.

The series B preferreds closed Friday at $18.750, an increase of $1.42 or 8.2%.

Gastar reported a net loss of 8 cents per common share and an adjusted net loss of 3 cents per common share for the fourth quarter of 2017.

Adjusted earnings increased 46% year over year for the fourth quarter of 2017 and 49% from the third quarter of 2017, according to a company news release.

Average daily production of oil in the fourth quarter increased 17% year over year and 11% from the third quarter of 2017.

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