Preferreds manage modest rebound at week’s end; primary calendar eyed; Fannie Mae falls

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, May 19 – After two straight days of weakness, the preferred stock market regained ground in Friday trading. However, liquidity continued to be constrained.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index rose 11 basis points by the bell. The U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF firmed 3 bps, though it was up as much as 21 bps earlier in the day.

The week failed to bring any new issues, but a trader said he was hearing talk of a “small deal for Monday.”

The trader added that he had not yet heard who the issuer might be, though earlier in the week, another trader speculated a real estate investment trust might be added to the calendar.

In secondary trading, Fannie Mae’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS) once again rose to the top of the list, trading about 1.15 million times. Unlike the rest of the market, the preferreds finished the day lower, trading off a nickel to $6.39.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.’s 5.85% series K fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: MSPrK) were seen up 6 cents at $26.53. Wells Fargo & Co.’s 5.625% series Y class A noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: WFCPrY) were also modestly better, firming a dime to $25.26.

Among recently listed issues, GasLog Partners LP’s $143.75 million of 8.625% series A fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preference units (NYSE: GLOPPrA) ended 8 cents higher at $25.37.

The units were admitted to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, after pricing May 8.

And speaking of new listings, Capitala Finance Corp.’s $70 million offering of 6% $25-par notes due May 31, 2022 were slated to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on May 23, a market source reported Friday.

The ticker symbol will be “CPTAL.”

The deal came May 10. The size was lifted from $50 million.

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

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