Public Storage sells upsized preferreds; AGNC finishes under par; JPMorgan declines

By James McCandless

San Antonio, Feb. 28 – More primary activity served as the backdrop for mixed secondary activity in the preferred space.

Public Storage priced an upsized $285 million of $25-par series H cumulative preferred shares at par with a dividend of 5.6%.

In the secondary, AGNC Investment Corp.’s new $225 million 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferred stock closed below par.

Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s 6% series EE and 5.75% series DD non-cumulative preferred stock saw a decline.

Meanwhile, utilities name Southern Co.’s 6.25% series 2015A junior subordinated notes due 2075 improved.

Telecom giant AT&T, Inc.’s 5.35% global notes due 2066 also trended higher.

Qwest Corp.’s 6.5% notes due 2056 also went upward.

Public Storage prices

Public Storage priced an upsized $285 million of $25-par series H cumulative preferred shares at par with a dividend of 5.6% on Thursday.

There is no greenshoe.

The deal, announced Thursday morning, was upsized from an initial $100 million and came in below talk for a dividend in the 5.75% area.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, UBS Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are the bookrunners.

The preferreds are redeemable on or after March 11, 2024 at par.

AGNC below par

Real estate investment trust AGNC’s new $225 million 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferred stock closed its first day of trading under par.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “AGNCO,” were seen closing at $24.84 on volume of about 3.2 million shares.

The deal priced on Wednesday.

JPMorgan declines

Elsewhere, JPMorgan’s 6% series EE and 5.75% series DD non-cumulative preferred stock were both in decline on Thursday.

The series EE preferreds (NYSE: JPMPrC) dropped 22 cents to close at $25.89 with about 2.1 million shares trading.

On Wednesday, the preferreds added 3 cents.

The series DD preferreds (NYSE: JPMPrD) lost 26 cents to close at $25.39 with about 1 million shares trading.

On Wednesday, the preferreds gained 15 cents.

Southern Co. up

Meanwhile, electric utility Southern Co.’s 6.25% series 2015A junior subordinated notes ended the session higher.

The notes (NYSE: SOJA) were up 12 cents to close at $26.16 on volume of about 688,000 notes

AT&T rises

Telecom giant AT&T’s 5.35% global notes due 2066 were also trending higher.

The notes (NYSE: TBB) closed 31 cents better at $25.08 with about 620,000 notes trading.

The company saw increased attention Thursday amid news that the company would restructure its HBO segment after the departure of Richard Plepler as the CEO of the unit.

Sector peer Qwest’s 6.5% notes due 2056 also struck a positive track.

The notes (NYSE: CTBB) gained 19 cents to close at $22.70 on volume of about 523,000 notes trading.

Indexes mixed

The Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index was up 0.12% at the close, moving higher after beginning the session up by 0.02%.

The iShares US Preferred Stock ETF was level at $36.20.

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