Preferreds strong amid limited trading; Legg Mason, Qwest firm; Sotherly lists on Nasdaq

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Aug. 30 – The preferred stock market continued to have a firm tone to it as August neared its end.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index closed up 12 basis points. It was up 13 bps early Tuesday.

Still, traders lamented that there was not much going on.

“A lot of stuff went ex-dividend in the last few days; that’s about the only thing that’s happening,” a trader said.

August’s new issues remained in focus, as Legg Mason Global Asset Management’s $500 million of 5.45% $25-par junior subordinated notes due Sept. 15, 2056 (NYSE: LMHB) – priced Aug. 3 – were seen at $25.15.

Qwest Corp.’s $977.5 million of 6.5% $25-par notes due 2026 (NYSE: CTBB) – consisting of $850 million sold on Aug. 11 and a fully exercised greenshoe of $127.5 million – were meantime 11 cents higher at $25.89.

The Qwest issue was highly active for the day, second only to Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.’s 7.125% series E fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: MSPE), which closed up 4 cents at $30.48.

Also, a trader noted that Sotherly Hotels Inc.’s $40.25 million of 8% series B cumulative redeemable preferreds – an issue priced Aug. 16 – were trading on the Nasdaq Global Select market under the ticker symbol “SOHOB.”

Paper was trading at $25.89 at midmorning, up from opening levels of $25.74. It jumped all the way to $26.19 by the bell.

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