DASNY, Geisinger deals done for retail as munis strengthen

Top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, according to traders, as the first of the week’s large deals hit the market.

Primary Market
In the negotiated sector on Tuesday, Siebert Cisneros Shank priced the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York’s $345 million of Series 2017A dormitory facilities revenue bonds for retail investors ahead of the institutional pricing on Wednesday.

The issue was priced to yield from 1.07% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 3.16% with a 5% coupon in 2038. No retail orders were taken in the 2032, 2034-2035, 2042 or 2046 maturities. A 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.

The DASNY deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and A-plus by Fitch Ratings.

JPMorgan Securities priced the Geisinger Authority, Montour County, Pa.’s $349.27 million of Series 2017A-1 health system revenue bonds for the Geisinger Health System for retail investors ahead of the institutional pricing on Wednesday.

The issue was priced as 3 3/4s to yield 3.91% in 2042, as 5s to yield 3.47% in 2045 and as 4s to yield 3.89% in 2047.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P Global Ratings.

Wells Fargo Securities is expected to price the Katy Independent School District, Texas’ $257.46 million of Series 2017 unlimited tax school building bonds.

The deal, which is backed by the Permanent School Fund guarantee program, is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA-minus by S&P Global Ratings.

A premarketing scale was released on the Pennsylvania State University’s $284.77 million of Series 2017A tax-exempt and Series 2017B taxable bonds, according to market sources.

Sources said Barclays Capital premarketed the $159.77 million of Series 2017A tax-exempts to yield from 1.07% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 3.02% with a 5% coupon in 2037; a 2042 maturity was premarketed as 5s to yield 3.11% and a 2047 maturity was premarketed as 5s to yield 3.16% with the 2018 maturity being offered as a sealed bid.

Sources said the $125 million of Series 2017B taxables were being premarketed to yield from about 30 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2019 to about 120 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2032 and about 80 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2037 and about 95 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2047 with the 2018 maturity being offered as a sealed bid.

The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.

In the short-term sector, Wells Fargo is expected to price the Golden Empire Schools Financing Authority, Calif.’s $130 million of 2017 lease revenue refunding notes for the Kern High School District.

The deal is rated MIG1 by Moody’s and SP1-plus by S&P.

In the competitive arena on Tuesday, the Miami-Dade County School District, Fla., sold $250 million of Series 2017 unlimited tax general obligation school bonds.

Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a true interest cost of 3.57%. Pricing information was not immediately available.

The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s.

Henrico County, Va., competitively sold $100.65 million of Series 2017A unlimited tax GO public improvement bonds on Tuesday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the bonds with a TIC of 2.63%. The issue was priced to yield from 0.89% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.22% with a 3.50% coupon in 2037.

The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.

BB-041917-MUN

Since 2008, the county has issued about $972 million of debt, with the most issuance occurring in 2010 when it sold almost $192 million of securities. It sold the least debt in 2012, when it offered $37.5 million of bonds.

Bond Buyer visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $100.6 million to $14.50 billion on Tuesday. The total is comprised of $4.15 billion of competitive sales and $10.35 billion of negotiated deals.

Secondary market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation fell one to three basis points from 2.07% on Monday, while the 30-year GO yield dropped one to three basis points from 2.91%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.

U.S. Treasuries were stronger on Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury declined to 1.16% from 1.20% on Monday, while the 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 2.19% from 2.26%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.85% from 2.92%.

On Monday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 91.6% compared with 93.3% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 100.0%, versus 101.0%, according to MMD.

MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 39,948 trades on Thursday on volume of $7.995 billion.

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