Muni market sees more issuance, topped by LAUSD's $1B GO sale

Municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, according to traders, as the market saw more action in the primary.

Primary market
Morgan Stanley priced the Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1.08 billion of Series 2017A dedicated unlimited ad valorem property tax general obligation refunding bonds for institutions on Tuesday.

The issue was priced to yield 0.96% with a 5% coupon in 2019 and from 1.25% with a 4% coupon in 2021 to 2.31% with a 4% coupon and 2.31% with a 5% coupon in a split 2027 maturity. The 2017 and 2018 maturities were offered as sealed bids.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and AAA by Fitch Ratings.

Since 2007, LAUSD has sold roughly $13.99 billion of securities, with the most issuance occurring in 2009 when it sold $2.92 billion. The district has sold more than $1 billion six times, including this week's sale, over the past decade, with three of those being greater than $2 billion. It did not come to market in 2013.

BB-051717MUN

Wells Fargo Securities priced the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York’s $680.95 million of tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds for New York University.

DASNY’s $452.97 million of Series 2017A tax-exempts were priced to yield from 1.01% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 3.18% with a 5% coupon in 2040; a 2043 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.21%.

DASNY’s $227.98 million of Series 2017B taxables were priced at par to yield from about 30 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2019 to about 145 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2034; and about 100 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2039 and about 115 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2047.

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

Barclays Capital priced the California Health Facilities Financing Authority’s $275.67 million of Series 2017A revenue bonds for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

The issue was priced to yield from 3.47% with a 5% coupon in 2030 to 3.89% with a 5% coupon in 2037. A split 2042 maturity was priced at par to yield 4.25% and as 5s to yield 3.98%; a 2048 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 4.03%; and a 2049 maturity was priced as 4 1/8s to yield 4.35%.

The deal is rated Baa2 by Moody’s and BBB-plus by S&P.

D.A. Davidson & Co. priced the Oregon Department of Transportation’s $336.24 million of highway user tax revenue bonds.

The $244.5 million of Series 2017A senior lien bonds were priced as 5s to yield from 1.03% in 2019 to 2.26% in 2027; a 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.

The $91.75 million of Series 2017B senior lien refunding bonds were priced as 5s to yield 1.03% in 2019 and 1.19% in 2020 and to yield from 2% in 2025 to 2.49% in 2029.

The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s, AAA by S&P and AA-plus by Fitch.

Barclays is also scheduled to price the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority’s $200 million of revenue bonds for Yale University.

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

Citi is slated to price the South Dakota Housing Development Authority’s $166 million of homeownership mortgage bonds, Series 2017A taxables, Series 2017C not subject to the alternative minimum tax and Series 2017B non-AMT.

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

In the competitive arena, the Phoenix Civic Improvement Corp. sold $216.58 million of Series 2017A subordinate excise tax revenue bonds.

Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a true interest cost of 2.04%. The issue was priced to yield from 0.90% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to about 3.10% with a 3% coupon in 2032.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA-plus by S&P and Fitch.

Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $270.2 million to $14.53 billion on Tuesday. The total is comprised of $4.41 billion of competitive sales and $10.12 billion of negotiated deals.

Secondary market
Top-shelf municipal bonds were trading stronger. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation fell as much as two basis points from 2.11% from Monday, while the 30-year GO yield decreased as much as two basis points from 2.98%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.

U.S. Treasuries were narrowly mixed on Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury was unchanged from 1.29% on Monday, while the 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 2.31% from 2.34%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.98% from 3.00%.

The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 90.2% on Monday, compared with 90.6% on Friday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 99.1%, versus 99.6%, according to MMD.

MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 37,982 trades on Monday on volume of $8.04 billion.

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Primary bond market Secondary bond market New York State Dormitory Authority Connecticut Health & Educational Facilities Authority
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