Top-quality municipal bonds finished mixed on Wednesday, traders said, as more supply slipped into the market.
Primary market
On Wednesday, Barclays Capital priced Pennsylvania State University’s $282.4 million of Series 2017A tax-exempt and Series 2017B taxable bonds.
The $157.4 million of Series 2017A tax-exempts were priced to yield from 0.90% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 2.97% with a 5% coupon in 2037; a 2042 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.06% and a 2047 maturity was prices as 5s to yield 3.13%.
The $125 million of Series 2017B taxables were priced to yield from about 30 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2019 to about 115 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2032 and about 70 basis points over the comparable Treasury security in 2037 and about 92 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 Investors Service and AA by S&P Global Ratings.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the UAB Medicine Finance Authority, Ala.'s $180.85 million of Series 2017 B1 and B2 revenue bonds.
The $44.98 Series 2017B-1 bonds were priced to yield from 2.76% with a 5% coupon in 2028 to 3.38% with a 3.25% coupon in 2031; a 2042 maturity was priced as 3 3/4s to yield 3.86%.
The $135.88 million of Series 2017B-2 bonds were priced to yield from 2.76% with a 5% coupon in in 2028 to 3.39% with a 5% coupon in 2037; a 2041 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.47% and a 2047 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.98%.
The deal is rated A1 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P.
Morgan Stanley priced the city of Cape Coral, Fla.’s $101.41 million of utility improvement refunding assessment bonds.
The bonds were priced and repriced to yield from par with a 1.25% coupon in 2017 to 3.09% with a 3% coupon in 2028.
The entire deal was insured by Assured Guaranty Municipal and is rated AA by S&P.
"Assured Guaranty was pleased to work with Morgan Stanley on this transaction and provide the insurance that helped the issuer lower its borrowing cost,” said Jim Binette, managing director, public finance, eastern region at AGM.
Since 2007, the city has issued $872 million of debt, with the most issuance occurring in 2011 when it sold $299 million. The city did not come to market at all in 2008, 2012 through 2014 or in 2016.
Raymond James & Associates priced the Fresno Joint Powers Financing Authority, Calif.'s $148.57 million of lease revenue refunding and taxable bonds.
The $124.79 million of the Master Lease Projects tax-exempt bonds were priced to yield from 1.14% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.33% with a 5% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2039 was priced to yield 3.88% with a 3.75% coupon. The 2022 through 2037 maturities totaling $95.46 million were insured by AGM and are rated A2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P. The uninsured maturities are rated Baa1 by Moody’s, A by S&P and A-minus by Fitch Ratings.
The $23.78 million of taxables were priced at par to yield from 1.95% in 2018 to 3.73% in 2027. A term bond in 2031 was priced at par to yield 4.16%. The entire taxable part of the deal was insured by AGM and rated A2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
In the short-term sector, Wells Fargo Securities priced the Golden Empire Schools Financing Authority, Calif.’s $123.85 million of 2017 lease revenue refunding notes for the Kern High School District.
The notes were priced as 4s to yield 1.17% in 2018.
The deal is rated MIG1 by Moody’s and SP1-plus by S&P.
In the competitive arena, the town of Gilbert, Ariz., sold $124.61 million of Series 2017 general obligation and GO refunding bonds.
JPMorgan Securities won the deal with a true interest cost of 2.33%. The deal was priced to yield from 0.80% with a 3% coupon in 2017 to 3.22% with a 3% coupon in 2036.
The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s and Fitch and AA-plus by S&P.
Secondary market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose one basis point to 2.03% from 2.02% on Tuesday, while the 30-year GO yield was unchanged from 2.86%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasuries were weaker on Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 1.18% from 1.16% on Tuesday, while the 10-year Treasury yield gained to 2.21% from 2.18%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 2.87% from 2.84%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 92.1% on Wednesday compared with 92.9% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 99.9%, versus 100.8%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 42,704 trades on Tuesday on volume of $11.04 billion.
