Midday Commentary: Preferred market comes off recent highs; Kemper's $25-par notes list on NYSE

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, March 3 - Preferred stocks were slipping in early Monday trading following the path of the common equity markets.

For its part, the Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was off 5 basis points as of midday. By comparison, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1% on concerns relating to the Ukraine and Russia.

But one trader opined that the preferred market's dip was more due to the fact that the space has been on the rise of late.

"We've had such a good run up, it'd be expected [that the market] would take a little breather," he said.

Kemper Corp.'s $150 million of 7.375% $25-par notes due 2054 were admitted to the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

The deal priced Feb. 20. The ticker symbol is "KMPA."

Paper was trading at $25.50 at midday.

As for other recently priced deals that have yet to list, State Street Corp.'s $750 million of 5.9% series D fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds were coming in, with a trader seeing the issue at $25.35 bid. The Allstate Corp.'s $650 million of 6.625% series E fixed-rate noncumulative preferreds were meantime pegged at $24.78 bid, $24.84 offered.

State Street came Feb. 25. Allstate priced Feb. 24.

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