Morning Commentary: Maiden preference shares not free; Endurance holding steady; primary quiets

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 were pegged at $24.65 in early trading.

A trader noted that the issue, which priced Wednesday, had not yet freed from the syndicate.

The deal 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.

And from Monday’s 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.

As the week nears its end and a holiday looms, a trader speculated that there will 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.

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

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