Morning Commentary: Leggett & Platt, Anthem, Southwest Airlines, Entergy Texas offer notes

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Nov. 14 – High-grade supply is expected to continue at a busy pace over Tuesday’s session.

Leggett & Platt Inc. plans to price 10-year notes in its first high-grade bond deal since 2014. The company held investor calls on Friday for the offering, a source said.

Anthem, Inc. is marketing a five-tranche offering of notes.

Southwest Airlines Co. is offering two tranches of notes.

Entergy Texas, Inc. is in the deal pipeline with an offering of first mortgage bonds.

In addition, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, also known as World Bank, plans to price a benchmark-sized offering of 10-year notes.

The notes were talked to price early Tuesday in the mid-swaps plus 21 basis points area, tighter than initial price guidance in the mid-swaps plus 22 bps area on Monday, according to market sources.

In other activity, Citadel LP is expected to conclude a two-day round of fixed income investor calls on Tuesday, a source said. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and UBS Securities LLC are the arrangers.

S&P Global Ratings announced on Friday that it assigned a BBB issuer credit rating for Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund management firm.

About $25 billion to $30 billion of deal volume is forecast for the week, according to a market source.

Leggett & Platt’s notes were not active in early secondary trading, a source said. The company’s 3.8% notes due Nov. 15, 2024 that priced on Nov. 5, 2014 were last seen trading in September at 103.51.

Leggett & Platt sold $300 million of the notes (Baa1/BBB+) at 99.744 to yield 3.831% and a spread of Treasuries plus 148 bps.

High-grade secondary trading volume totaled $16.6 billion on Monday, according to Trace.

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