Municipals close flat to softer in line with Treasuries; Quinnipiac University offers bonds

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Aug. 27 – Municipals rounded out another busy session flat to slightly weaker as Treasuries rounded out the day in a similar fashion, market insiders said.

Yields were flat to about 1 basis point higher in spots. Over in the Treasuries market, yields were also mixed with the 10-year and five-year yields unchanged but the 30-year yield down 1 bp and the two-year yield up 1 bp.

Elsewhere, the week’s heavy new-issue slate contributed to the busiest secondary trading day in a month Wednesday, said a market insider Thursday morning.

MSRB volume jumped to $11.8 billion on Wednesday, fueled in part by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s $2.2 billion offering of school construction bonds (A3/A-/A-), which were freed to trade Wednesday afternoon.

The maximum yield of 5.25% of 2040 traded in block size at 5.07% toward the end of the day Wednesday after pricing at 5.10%.

On Thursday, the most actively traded maturity was the 4.25% of 2026. The 4.25% bonds traded at 4.249% after pricing at 4.5%.

Quinnipiac offers bonds

Heading up the day’s primary action, the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority brought $324.63 million of series 2015L revenue bonds for Quinnipiac University.

The bonds (A3/A-/) were sold through Barclays.

The bonds are due 2018 to 2036 with term bonds due in 2041 and 2045. The serial coupons range from 3.5% to 5%. The 2041 bonds have a 4.125% coupon and priced at 97.436, and the 2045 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 107.934.

Proceeds will be used to finance capital projects for the Hamden-based university.

Kentucky Economic bonds price

In other new-issue activity, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority sold $232.84 million of series 2015A senior revenue bonds for the Next Generation Kentucky Information Highway.

The bonds were sold through Barclays and BofA Merrill Lynch.

The bonds are due 2019 to 2033 with term bonds due in 2035, 2037, 2040 and 2045, according to the pricing sheet. The serial coupons range from 2.5% to 5%. The 2035 bonds have a 4.25% coupon and priced at 96.611, the 2037 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 104.764, the 2040 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 104.033, and the 2045 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 103.467.

Proceeds will be used to finance the construction and implementation of the Next Generation Kentucky Information Highway system, a global information system of multiple, interconnected computer networks.

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