Preferreds rebound on jobs number; Wells Fargo Real Estate, U.S. Cellular deals steady

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, Dec. 5 – After being under pressure all week, the preferred stock market was recovering ground Friday following a “bang up jobs number,” a trader said.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index closed up 23 basis points.

In a Labor Department report released Friday, nonfarm jobs increased by the largest number since January 2012 in November, with 321,000 jobs being added.

Unemployment held at a six-year low of 5.8%.

A Commerce Department report then showed that wages improved by 9 cents on average for the month, the largest gain since June 2013.

Of the deals that have come so far this month, Wells Fargo Real Estate Investment Corp.’s $240 million issue of 6.375% series A cumulative perpetual preferred stock was “hanging” around $24.90 early in the session, according to a trader.

At the end of the day, the issue was pegged at $24.90 bid, $24.97 offered.

The deal priced Thursday, at the tight end of talk. It freed to trade on Friday.

Meanwhile, United States Cellular Corp.’s $275 million of 7.25% senior unsecured notes due 2063 were holding in a $24.85 to $24.87 context.

After the bell, a market source pegged the issue at $24.89.

That issue came Monday.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are running the books.

© 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.