Morning Commentary: Crown Castle, CSX, E.I. DuPont eye deals; Verizon slips; AutoZone better

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., April 26 – The deal pace is set to pick up on Wednesday with three high-grade bond issuers in the offering pipeline.

Crown Castle International Corp., CSX Corp. and E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co. are marketing notes.

In secondary trading early Wednesday, Verizon Communications Inc.’s 4.125% notes due March 16, 2027 were active and traded nearly 1 point weaker as the session got underway.

AutoZone, Inc.’s 3.75% senior notes due June 1, 2027 were better over the morning but remain off a mid-month high.

In the broader high-grade bond market, volume in the secondary market climbed to $19.94 billion on Tuesday from $16.14 billion on Monday, according to Trace.

Verizon softens

Verizon Communications’ 4.125% notes due March 16, 2027 were quoted in early secondary trading at 102.29 from where the notes went out in the previous day at 103.17, a market source said.

Verizon sold $3.25 billion of the notes (Baa1/BBB+/A-) on March 13 at 99.256 and a spread of Treasuries plus 160 basis points.

The telecommunications company is based in New York City.

AutoZone improves

AutoZone’s 3.75% notes due June 1, 2027 traded early Wednesday at 100.75, up from where the notes went out on Tuesday at 100.40, according to a market source.

The notes traded as high as 102.12 on April 18.

The company sold $600 million of the notes (Baa1/BBB/BBB) on April 6 at 99.995 to yield 3.75%, or spread of 140 bps over Treasuries.

AutoZone is a Memphis-based auto parts and supplies retailer.

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