Enstar’s new preferreds below par; Edison International falls; Bank of America declines

By James McCandless

San Antonio, Nov. 15 – The preferred space saw higher volume and broad declines in Thursday’s session.

Enstar Group Ltd.’s new upsized $110 million 7% series E perpetual non-cumulative preference shares ended their first trading day under par.

In the secondary, Southern California Edison Co., a subsidiary of Edison International, saw its 5% cumulative trust preferreds continue to drop.

In the finance sector, Bank of America Corp.’s 5.875% series HH non-cumulative preferreds joined the negative trend.

Elsewhere in the sector, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s 5.75% series DD non-cumulative preferred stock and Wells Fargo & Co.’s 5.85% series Q fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative class A preferreds also moved lower.

Enstar under par

At the top of trading, Enstar’s 7% series E perpetual non-cumulative preference shares ended their first day on the market below par.

The preferreds, trading under the temporary symbol “ESGRL,” ended the session at $24.65 on volume of about 1.2 million shares.

The deal priced on Wednesday.

SoCal Edison falls

In the utilities space, Southern California Edison’s 5% cumulative trust preferreds were moving lower.

The preferreds (NYSE: SCEPrL) were down 45 cents to close at $17.79 with about 764,000 shares trading.

The company’s common and preferred equity have been under pressure since the onset of wildfires where it operates in California, with increasing questions about liability and at-risk assets.

Bank of America lower

Elsewhere, in finance, Bank of America’s 5.875% series HH non-cumulative preferreds led the sector in a negative trend.

The preferreds (NYSE: BACPrK) were down 3 cents to close at $24.62 on volume of about 755,000 shares.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s 5.75% series DD non-cumulative preferred stock also ended the trading day in a worse position.

The preferreds (NYSE: JPMPrD) fell 16 cents to close at $24.63 with about 505,000 shares trading.

On Wednesday, the preferreds lost 10 cents.

Wells Fargo’s 5.85% series Q fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative class A preferreds declined.

The preferreds (NYSE: WFCPrQ) were off 3 cents to close at $25.36 on volume of about 340,000 shares.

Indexes down

The Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities Financial index was down 0.51% at the end of trading, widening a 0.20% loss at Thursday’s open.

The iShares US Preferred Stock ETF was down 14 cents to $35.68.

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