Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were mixed at midday, according to traders, as yields on some maturities were unchanged to as much as two basis points stronger.
In the primary market, Barclays Capital priced the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority's $325 million of Quinnipiac University bonds while BMO Capital Markets priced the Chicago Park District's $139 million general obligation bond deal.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation on Thursday was as much as two basis points stronger from 2.15% on Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO was steady from 3.11%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasury prices were mixed on Thursday, with the yield on the two-year Treasury note rising to 0.70% from 0.66% on Wednesday, while the 10-year yield rose to 2.19% from 2.16% and the 30-year yield decreased to 2.92% from 2.93%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 99.2% versus 100.0% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 106.2% compared to 106.9%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
Barclays priced the Connecticut HEFA's $324.5 million of Series L revenue bonds for Quinnipiac University.
The bonds were priced to yield from 1.25% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.82% with a 5% coupon in 2036. A 2040 term bond was priced as 4 1/4s to yield 4.34% and a 2045 term bond was priced as 5s to yield 4.01%.
The issue was rated A3 by Moody's Investors Service and A-minus by Standard & Poor's, both with stable outlooks.
BMO priced the Chicago Park District's $138.48 million of GOs in four series.
The $40 million of Series 2015A limited tax GO tax park bonds were priced as 5s to yield 3.43% in 2024 and from 3.71% in 2026 to 4.13% in 2030; a 2035 maturity yields 4.38% and a 2040 maturity yields 4.54%.
The $54.79 million of Series 2015B limited tax GO refunding bonds were priced to yield from 1.39% with a 4% coupon to 4.13% with a 5% coupon in 2030.
The $15.92 million of Series 2015C limited tax GO refunding bonds were priced as 4s to yield 1.78% in 2018 and 2.11% in 2019 and priced as 5s to yield 3.04% in 2022, 3.29% in 2023 and 3.43% in 2024.
The $27.78 million of Series 2015D unlimited tax GO refunding personal property replacement tax alternative revenue source bonds were priced as 4s to yield from 1.31% in 2017 to 2.37% in 2020 and priced as 5s to yield from 3.22% in 2023 to 3.37% in 2024 and to yield from 3.65% in 2026 to 3.99% in 2029.
Loop Capital Markets and William Blair were co-senior managers. Katten Muchin Rosenman and Charity & Associates were co-bond counsel and Acacia Financial Group and Speer Financial were advising the district, whose board is appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The deal was rated AA-plus by S&P, AA-minus by Fitch Ratings and AA by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. All three rating agencies have a stable outlook on the credit.
Proceeds include new money for capital projects and refundings for savings and pledge restructuring purposes.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority's $230 million of 30-year tax exempt bonds. Fitch expects to rate the bonds BBB-plus, while Moody's assigned the deal a provisional rating of Baa2.
Bond proceeds will be loaned to the concessionaire in the Bluegrass State's first availability payment public-private partnership.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $350.7 million, bringing total net assets to $247.46 billion in the period ended Aug. 24, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $833.1 million to $247.11 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 383 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for the 121th straight week.
The total net assets of the 967 weekly reporting taxable money funds rose $20.47 billion to $2.467 trillion in the period ended Aug. 25, after experiencing an inflow of $245.7 million to $2.447 trillion in the prior week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds remained at 0.02% for the 32nd week in a row.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,350 weekly reporting money funds increased $20.82 billion to $2.715 trillion in the period ended Aug. 18, which followed an outflow of $587.4 million to $2.694 trillion the week before.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 40,066 trades on Wednesday on volume of $11.770 billion.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar fell $1.35 billion to $6.07 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $3.03 billion competitive sales and $3.04 billion of negotiated deals.
Yvette Shields contributed to this report
