Top-quality municipal bonds were mostly steady at mid-session, according to traders, as a hefty amount of new supply hit the market.
Citigroup priced Hawaii's $771.72 million of 2016 general obligation bonds for retail investors ahead of Thursday's institutional offering.
The $375 million of Series FG GOs were priced to yield from 0.95% with 3% and 5% coupons in a spilt 2019 maturity to 2.62% with a 4% coupon in 2036.
The $394.08 million of Series FH refunding GOs were not offered to retail.
The $2.64 million of Series FI refunding GOs were priced to yield from 1.14% with a 2% coupon in 2021 to 2.18% with a 5% coupon in 2033.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service, AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings and AA by Fitch Ratings.
Also for retail investors, Morgan Stanley priced Massachusetts' $435.92 million of Series 2016A commonwealth transportation fund revenue bonds for rail enhancement and accelerated bridge programs and Series 2016A commonwealth transportation fund revenue refunding bonds. The deal will be priced for institutions on Thursday.
The $331.48 million of Series 2016A CTF revenue bonds were priced to yield from 0.87% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 1.95% with a 5% coupon in 2030; a split 2041 maturity was priced at par to yield 3% and as 5s to yield 2.35%. No retail orders were taken in the 2031-2036 or 2046 maturities. A 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.
The $104.45 million of Series 2016A CTF revenue refunding bonds were priced to yield from 1.25% with a 5% coupon in 2023 to 1.88% with a 5% coupon in 2029.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody's and triple-A by S&P.
On Thursday, Morgan Stanley is also set to price Massachusetts' $127.17 million of Series 2016A federal highway grant anticipation notes for the accelerated bridge program. That deal is rated Aa2 by Moody's.
On Wednesday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the Irvine Ranch Water District, Calif.'s $104.55 million of Series 2016 bonds.
The issue was priced as 5s to yield from 1% in 2022 to 2.20% in 2036, 2.30% in 2041 and 2.35% in 2046. The deal is rated triple-A by S&P and Fitch.
Since 2006, the district has issued about $1.2 million of debt, with the largest issuance in 2010 when it sold $260.1 million of securities. The district did not sell any debt from 2012 to 2015, returning to the market this year when it issued $116.8 million of certificates of participation in August.
In the competitive arena, the Galena Park Independent School District, Texas, sold $102.71 million of Series 2016 unlimited tax school building and refunding bonds.
Robert W. Baird won the bonds with a true interest cost of 2.62%. Pricing information was not immediately available.
The deal is backed by the Permanent School Fund guarantee program and rated triple-A by S&P and Fitch.
The district last competitively sold comparable bonds on June 26, 2013, when Stifel won $9.44 million of Series 2013 unlimited tax refunding bonds with a TIC of 2.47%.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $2.94 billion to $16.41 billion on Wednesday. The total is comprised of $3.46 billion of competitive sales and $12.96 billion of negotiated deals.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was unchanged from 1.48% on Tuesday, while the yield on the 30-year was steady from 2.27%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries were stronger on Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dipped to 0.74% from 0.75% on Tuesday, the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.55% from 1.56% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.27% from 2.28%.
On Tuesday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 95.2% compared to 95.1% on Monday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 99.7% versus 98.3%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 32,558 trades on Tuesday on volume of $12.55 billion.
