Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac active in trading; IberiaBank trades; Huntington, Hercules climb

By Christine Van Dusen

Atlanta, May 5 – Recent new issues from IberiaBank Corp. and Huntington Bancshares Inc. were among the most actively traded on a flat Thursday for the preferred stock market, as most investors awaited the new payrolls report from the United States.

“There’s a loss of conviction,” a market source said. “People are waiting for the job report, and other than that, there’s clearly a lack of news. We’re coming off bank earnings season.”

Indeed, earnings reports from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to mixed performance on Thursday morning. Fannie posted stronger earnings and Freddie released weaker results.

“We've seen a mixed sell-off in those issues,” a trader said.

By late-morning, though, both names were down 4 cents in trading, with Freddie’s 8.375% fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative perpetual preferreds (OTCBB: FMCKJ) spotted at $3.70 on Thursday morning, following Wednesday’s $3.74, and closed at about $3.77.

Fannie’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative perpetual preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS) were seen at $3.80 on Thursday before closing at $3.84, flat to Wednesday.

Huntington Bancshares’ new $200 million of its 6.25% series D noncumulative perpetual preferred stock (Nasdaq: HBANO) traded Thursday morning at $26.11, then closed at $26.08, up 7 cents.

Hercules Capital Inc. saw its $65.4 million add-on to its 6.25% $25-par notes due 2024 (NYSE: HTGX) trade for most of Thursday – and close – at $25.04, up 7 cents.

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