Muni yields up as deal deluge continues

Municipal bond yields continue to surge along with the supply that hit the market on Tuesday. Yields on top-rated munis gained as much as six basis points as offerings from issuers in California, Virginia, Florida and the District of Columbia hit the screens.

Secondary market
The MBIS municipal non-callable 5% GO benchmark scale was weaker in midday trading.

The 10-year muni benchmark yield rose to 2.326% on Tuesday from the final read of 2.302% on Monday, according to Municipal Bond Information Services. The MBIS 30-year benchmark muni yield increased to 2.792% from 2.755%.

The MBIS benchmark index, which is comprised on investment-grade municipal securities, is updated hourly on the Bond Buyer Data Workstation.

Top-rated municipal bonds were weaker at mid-session. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose three to five basis points from 2.01% on Monday, while the 30-year GO yield gained four to six basis points from 2.64%, according to a read of MMD’s triple-A scale.

U.S. Treasuries were also weaker on Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 1.84% from 1.83%, the 10-year Treasury yield gained to 2.42% from 2.39% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury decreased to 2.80% from 2.78%.

On Monday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 84.3% compared with 82.2% on Friday, while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 95.3% versus 92.4%, according to MMD.

MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 41,429 trades on Monday on volume of $10.80 billion.

Primary market
Barclays Capital priced the Regents of the University of California’s $614.49 million of tax-exempt general revenue bonds for institutions after holding a one-day retail order period.

The Series AZ taxable portion of the deal, which was priced for retail on Monday, was eliminated.

The Series AY tax-exempts were priced on Tuesday to yield from 1.51% with a 3% coupon in 2022 to 3.23% with a 3% coupon and 2.73% with a 5% coupon in a split 2037 maturity; a 2041 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.16%.

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

Citigroup priced the Virginia College Building Authority's $566.92 million of educational facilities revenue refunding bonds for the 21st century college and equipment programs.

The bonds were priced to yield from 1.15% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 1.58% with a 5% coupon in 2020 and from 1.73% with a 5% coupon in 2022 to 2.82% with a 4% coupon in 2032.

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

RBC Capital Markets priced Washington, D.C.’s $508.55 million of Series 2017D general obligation bonds.

The issue was priced to yield from 1.60% with a 4% coupon in 2020 to 2.83% with a 5% coupon in 2038. A split 2042 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 2.87% and as 4s to yield 3.17%.

The District of Columbia GOs are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by S&P and Fitch.

Wells Fargo Securities priced the Florida’s JEA’s $415 million of Series 2017A water and sewer system revenue bonds and water and sewer system subordinate revenue bonds.

The $356.28 million of water and sewer system revenue bonds were priced to yield from 1.62% with a 5% coupon in 2020 to 3.48% with a 3.375% coupon and 3.15% with a 4% coupon in a split 2037 maturity. A 2039 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.18% and a 2041 maturity was priced as 3 3/8s to yield 3.53%.

The $59.285 million of water and sewer system subordinate revenue bonds were priced to yield from 1.77% with a 5% coupon in 2021 to 3.43% with a 3.25% coupon in 2034.

The revenue bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AAA by S&P and AA by Fitch while the subordinated revenue bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AA-plus by S&P and AA by Fitch.

UBS priced Bexar County, Texas $413.13 million of refunding bonds.

The $384.745 million of limited tax refunding bonds were priced to yield from 1.23% with a 3% coupon in 2019 to 2.83% with a 5% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2041 was priced to yield 3.18% with a 4% coupon and a term bond in 2043 was priced to yield 2.90% with a 5% coupon.

The $28.385 million of flood control tax refunding bonds were priced to yield from 1.23% with a 2% coupon in 2019 to 3.13% with a 4% coupon in 2037.

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

PNC Capital Markets priced Cape Coral, Fla.'s $249.095 million of water and sewer refunding revenue bonds.

The bonds were priced to yield from 1.91% with a 5% coupon in 2022 to 3.41% with a 4% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2039 was priced to yield 3.11% with a 5% coupon and a term bond in 2042 was priced to yield 3.49% with a 4% coupon.

The deal is rated A1 by Moody's and A-plus by Fitch, with the exception of the 2034 maturity, that is insured by Build America Mutual and is rated AA by S&P.

Wells Fargo priced Washington Healthcare Facilities Authority's $171.385 million of revenue and refunding bonds for Overlake Hospital Medical Center.

The $87.755 million of revenue bonds were priced to yield from 3.27% with a 5% coupon in 2035 to 3.68% with a 4% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2042 was priced to yield 3.74% with a 4% coupon and 3.39% with a 5% coupon in a split maturity.

The $83.63 million of refunding bonds were priced to yield from 2.21% with a 5% coupon in 2022 to 3.23% with a 5% coupon in 2034.

The deal is rated A2 by Moody's.

JPMorgan Securities priced the Maryland Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority’s $142.82 million of tax-exempt Series 2017D revenue bonds for the University of Maryland Medical System.

The issue was priced as 4s to yield 3.84% in a 2048 bullet maturity.

The deal is rated A2 by Moody’s, A by S&P and A-minus by Fitch.

Citi priced the New York State Housing Finance Agency’s $153.52 million of Series 2017M affordable housing revenue bonds.

The issue was priced at par to yield from 1.45% in 2019 to 2.80% and 2.85% in a split 2028 maturity, 3.15% in 2032, 3.50% in 2037, 3.65% in 2042, 3.75% in 2047 and 3.80% in 2050.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s.

Loop Capital Markets is set to price the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s $795 million of Series G turnpike revenue bonds.

The deal is rated A2 by Moody’s, A-plus by S&P and A by Fitch.

Since 2009, the Turnpike Authority has issued roughly $12.81 billion of bonds, with the most issuance before this year occurring in 2009 when it sold $2.49 billion of bonds. The authority did not come to market in 2011.

BB-121317-MUN

In the competitive arena on Tuesday, the West Virginia Economic Development Authority sold $142.39 million of Series 2017 lottery refunding revenue bonds.

Morgan Stanley won the deal with a true interest cost of 3.26%. Pricing information was not immediately available.

The deal is rated A1 by Moody’s and AAA by S&P.

The Florida Department of Transportation sold $138.24 million of Series 2017A turnpike revenue refunding bonds.

Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a TIC of 1.89%. Pricing information was not immediately available.

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

Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply at $21.39B
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $2.08 billion to $21.39 billion on Tuesday. The total is comprised of $3.58 billion of competitive sales and $17.81 billion of negotiated deals.

Data appearing in this article from Municipal Bond Information Services, including the MBIS municipal bond index, is available on The Bond Buyer Data Workstation. Click here for a brief tour of the Workstation, or contact Vanessa Kim at 212-803-8474 for more information.

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