Digital Realty closes under par; Qwest $25-par notes trade lower; U.S. Bancorp rises

By James McCandless

San Antonio, March 5 – While the preferred space trended higher, top-trading securities were mostly lower on Tuesday.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s new $200 million 5.85% series K cumulative redeemable preferred stock closed its first day below par.

Elsewhere in the REIT space, Public Storage’s recent 5.6% series H cumulative preferred shares ended lower.

AGNC Investment Corp.’s recent 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds were also on a negative trend.

Meanwhile, in communications, Qwest Corp.’s 6.5% notes due 2056 declined.

Finance name U.S. Bancorp’s 6.5% series F non-cumulative perpetual preferreds were a bright spot.

Digital Realty under par

Leading trading volume, real estate investment trust Digital Realty’s new $200 million 5.85% series K cumulative redeemable preferred stock ended its first trading day under par.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “DLRPO,” were seen closing at $24.90 on volume of about 3.6 million shares.

Elsewhere in the REIT space, Public Storage’s recent 5.6% series H cumulative preferred shares were moving lower.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “PSALL,” lost 2 cents to close at $25.08 with about 483,000 shares trading.

On Monday, the preferreds dropped 7 cents.

AGNC’s recent 6.875% series D fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds were also negative in Tuesday’s session.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “AGNCO,” declined by 7 cents to close at $24.80 on volume of about 461,000 shares.

On Monday, the preferreds shaved off 3 cents.

Qwest lower

Meanwhile, in the communications sector, Qwest’s 6.5% notes due 2056 were also declining.

The notes (NYSE: CTBB) lost 18 cents to close at $21.20 with about 399,000 notes trading.

On Tuesday, parent company CenturyLink filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, explaining that it had recently discovered material weaknesses in its accounting of assets and liabilities connected with its recent acquisition of Level 3 Communications.

U.S. Bancorp gains

Bucking the trend of top traders, U.S. Bancorp’s 6.5% series F non-cumulative perpetual preferreds moved higher.

The preferreds (NYSE: USBPrM) added 8 cents to close at $27.64 on volume of about 355,000 shares.

Indexes up

The Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index shot up 0.44% at the close, reversing a 0.10% drop from early Tuesday activity.

The iShares US Preferred Stock ETF was up 1 cent to $36.30.

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