Maiden’s new issue frees to trade; Endurance deal day’s ‘most active’; pipeline slows

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Nov. 19 – Recently priced preferred stock deals continued to be in focus on Thursday, though no fresh deals were added to the pipeline.

Maiden Holdings Ltd.’s $150 million of 7.125% series C noncumulative preference shares freed to trade during the session.

A market source saw the issue ending at $24.70, up from levels around $24.65 seen in early trading.

The deal, which priced Wednesday, came upsized from $100 million and tight to the 7.25% talk.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Securities LLC ran the books.

From Tuesday’s business, Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd.’s $200 million of 6.35% series C noncumulative preferreds were holding in a $24.80 to $24.82 range, according to a trader.

Another source also pegged the preferreds at $24.80, noting that the new deal was “the most active of the day.”

And from Monday dealings, United States Cellular Corp.’s $300 million of 7.25% $25-par senior unsecured notes due 2064 were trading “around $24.95,” a trader said at mid-morning.

After the bell, another source placed the notes at $24.92.

As the week nears its end and a holiday looms, a trader speculated that there would be “no preferred deals until after Thanksgiving.

“We’ll just absorb what we have here in the market,” he said.

The trader also noted that investors’ concerns about any market sell-off was somewhat alleviated following the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting minutes, which showed that a majority of Fed members saw an interest rate hike coming in December.

That coupled with a decline in new jobless claims was helping give the preferred space a slight boost early in the session, though those gains were erased by day’s end.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index ended down 2 basis points. The index was up 2 bps at mid-morning.

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