Preferreds finish with a firm tone; PennyMac, Qwest gain; BofA, Fannie decline

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, July 7 – Preferred stocks saw a modest recovery on Friday, following the rest of the markets upward on the back of a better-than-expected jobs number.

Both the Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities Index and the U.S. iShares Preferred Stock ETF were up 4 basis points at mid-morning.

In its latest monthly report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 222,000 jobs were added in June. That beat market expectations of a 180,000-jobs increase.

However, the unemployment rate was slightly higher at 4.4% – versus 4.3% in May – and wage growth continued to be less than stellar at 2.5% for the year.

As for preferred dealings, the trend of limited liquidity seen during the week was continuing Friday.

“I’d expect a pick-up in volume next week, as it will not be a holiday week,” one market source said.

However, investors will be looking towards the start of bank earnings next week. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. will kick things off on July 14.

While the preferred market did finish with a firm tone, performance was a little more mixed among the day’s most active issues.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s 8% series B fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferreds (NYSE: PMTPrB), for instance, moved up along with the market, closing 12 cents higher at $25.01.

Qwest Corp.’s 6.75% $25-par notes due 2057 (NYSE: CTDD) were also better, closing 14 cents higher at $25.44.

However, NGL Energy Partners LP’s 9% class B fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable preferred units (NYSE: NGLPrB) were seen holding steady at $24.93.

Bank of America Corp.’s 6.2% series CC noncumulative preferreds (NYSE: BACPrC) were meantime weaker on the day, falling 9 cents to $25.44.

Also lower were Fannie Mae’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS). The GSE-linked paper closed down 4 cents at $5.94.

The Fannie issue was the day’s most active, with over 656,000 shares trading.

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