Merchants Bancorp, Bluerock on tap; Brookfield Property under par; U.S. Bancorp gains

By James McCandless

San Antonio, March 15 – Preferreds generally trended higher on Friday amid rumblings of new deals on tap in the primary market.

Merchants Bancorp said it plans to price a $50 million offering of $25-par series A fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock.

Bluerock Residential Growth REIT Inc. plans to sell $500 million of 6% redeemable preferred stock and warrants.

On its first trading day, Brookfield Property Partners LP’s new $160 million 6.5% series I class A cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred units ended under par.

Elsewhere, U.S. Bancorp’s 5.5% series K non-cumulative perpetual preferred shares improved on Friday.

Insurance name American International Group, Inc.’s recent 5.85% series A non-cumulative perpetual preferreds were also on the rise.

Meanwhile, utilities company Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of Edison International, saw its 5.75% fixed-to-floating rate cumulative trust preference securities decline.

Real estate investment trust AGNC Investment Corp.’s 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds followed an upward path.

Merchants offering

Merchants plans to price a $50 million offering of $25-par series A fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock.

Sandler O'Neill & Partners, LP is the bookrunner.

The preferreds are redeemable after five years. Prior to that, they are redeemable within 90 days following a regulatory capital treatment event.

The dividend is fixed for five years, then converts to a floating rate of Libor plus a spread.

Bluerock preps deal

Bluerock plans to price a $500 million offering of redeemable preferred stock and warrants with a dividend of 6%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dividends will be payable monthly.

Brookfield under par

On its first day of trading, Brookfield Property’s new $160 million 6.5% series I class A cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred units were spotted under par.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “BRKPF,” were seen closing at $24.80 on volume of about 2.7 million shares.

The deal priced on Thursday.

U.S. Bancorp improves

Elsewhere, in the finance space, U.S. Bancorp’s 5.5% series K non-cumulative perpetual preferred shares improved at the session’s end.

The preferreds (NYSE: USBPrP) picked up 7 cents to close at $25.73 with about 993,000 shares trading.

AIG rises

Meanwhile, insurance provider AIG’s recent 5.85% series A non-cumulative perpetual preferreds were better on Friday.

The preferreds (NYSE: AIGPrA) gained 3 cents to close at $25.28 on volume of about 684,000 shares.

SoCal Edison down

Going against the prevailing trend, utilities name Southern California Edison’s 5.75% fixed-to-floating rate cumulative trust preference securities declined.

The preferreds (NYSE: SCEPrH) dropped 10 cents to close at $23.35 with about 419,000 shares trading.

AGNC gains

Real estate investment trust AGNC’s 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds were on a positive path.

The preferreds (Nasdaq: AGNCM) were up 3 cents to $24.93 on volume of about 313,000 shares.

Indexes up

The Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index was up 0.09% at the close, rising from the 0.02% boost from early trading.

The iShares US Preferred Stock ETF was up 6 cents to $36.63.

© 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.