Convertible bond investors stick with the usual suspects; EZCorp rises; Medicines better

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, July 11 – A convertible bond trader said it was “more of the same” in early trading on Monday.

“It’s all the same names,” he said, such as Intel Corp. and Weatherford International plc. The trader also noted that liquidity remained constrained. He attributed the weak activity to it being summer.

“And we still have a long eight weeks to go,” he remarked.

A trader did say that EZCorp Inc. was a notable name. Last week, the company announced that it was selling off its Grupo Finmart business. EZCorp will receive $50 million in cash from the transaction.

When the news was announced on Wednesday, it resulted in a 16% jump in the equity. Those gains continued through the week, and a trader said the stock was “continuing its advances today.”

The company’s 2.125% convertible senior notes due 2019 pushed up to 89 bid, 89.5 offered versus a stock price of $9.16 late Monday.

The stock ended up finishing even higher than that, putting on 27 cents, or 3.01%, to close at $9.24.

The Medicines Co.’s convertible bonds were trading on the active side, ticking higher with the equities.

A market source saw the 2.75% convertible notes due 2023 gaining nearly 3 points on the day to finish around 100.5. The 2.5% convertible notes due 2022 improved over 4 points to around 125.5.

As for the stock, it gained $1.29, or 3.7%, to close at $36.19.

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