Morning Commentary: Qwest’s $25-par notes mixed; Goldman Sachs improves; Enstar better

By James McCandless

San Antonio, Feb. 14 – Thursday’s open in the preferred market yielded mixed results with the Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index down by 0.10%.

At the top of trading activity, Qwest Corp.’s 6.125% notes due 2053 and its 6.5% notes due 2056 were mixed to start the session.

The 6.125% notes (NYSE: CTY) were down 8 cents to $21.91 on volume of about 120,000 notes trading.

The 6.5% notes (NYSE: CTBB) were up 4 cents to $21.40 on volume of about 92,000 notes.

On Wednesday, CenturyLink, Qwest’s parent company, posted a 37 cents per share profit for the fourth-quarter, just above analyst estimates of 36 cents per share.

Meanwhile, in finance, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.’s series A floating-rate non-cumulative preferreds were moving up

The preferreds (NYSE: GSPrA) gained 2 cents to $18.82 with about 54,000 shares trading.

Elsewhere in the space, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s 6% series EE non-cumulative preferred stock opened on a decline.

The preferreds (NYSE: JPMPrC) started lower by 3 cents to $25.90 on volume of about 43,000 shares.

Citigroup, Inc.’s 6.875% series K fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative preferreds were also rising incrementally.

The preferreds (NYSE: CPrK) were up 1 cent to $26.87 with about 32,000 shares trading.

Insurance name Enstar Group Ltd.’s 7% series E perpetual non-cumulative preference shares also began the day better.

The preferreds (Nasdaq: ESGRO) picked up 5 cents to $25.15 on volume of about 30,000 shares.

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