Busy primary sees Chevron, Eli Lilly, Kimberly-Clark price; AT&T firms; Southwestern mixed

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, Feb. 24 – Chevron Corp., Eli Lilly & Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Westpac Banking Corp. took advantage of what continue to be excellent conditions for the high-grade bond market on Tuesday.

Chevron came to market with a $6 billion six-part offering of notes, while Eli Lilly sold a $2.2 billion three-part issue of senior notes.

Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark sold $500 million offering of senior notes in two parts, and Westpac Banking priced a $1.5 billion five-year covered bond.

In other primary action, Apollo Investment Corp. came to market with a $350 million issue of unsecured notes due March 3, 2025.

Also on Tuesday, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. issued $900 million of notes in two parts, TCF National Bank priced $150 million of subordinated bank notes, and Tucson Electric Power Co. sold an upsized $300 million issue of 10-year notes.

The session’s flurry of new issuance pushes the week’s total supply to $18 billion in just two sessions.

Bonds were seen ending the day mostly better, while investment-grade credit spreads tightened, according to sources on Tuesday.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index firmed 2 basis points to a spread of 62 bps.

In the secondary market, AT&T Inc.’s notes (Baa1/BBB+/A) traded better.

Southwestern Energy Co.’s senior notes (Baa3/BBB-/) were mixed in trading but remain tighter than where the bonds priced in January.

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