Munis mixed as BATA $1.4B deal leads new supply surge

Top-rated municipal bonds were mixed at mid-session, according to traders, who were seeing the first of the week’s big deals come to market, led by the Bay Area Toll Authority’s $1.4 billion deal.

Secondary market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was as much as one basis point higher from 1.95% on Monday, while the 30-year GO yield was flat from 2.74%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale. Yields on intermediate maturities were lower.

Treasuries were stronger on Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dipped to 1.34% from 1.35% on Monday, the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 2.26% from 2.29% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.87% from 2.89%.

On Monday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 85.2%, compared with 85.3% on Friday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 94.6% versus 94.7%, according to MMD.

MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 32,051 trades on Monday on volume of $5.75 billion.

Primary market
Action kicked off on Tuesday with pricing of the Bay Area Toll Authority of Calif.’s $1.4 billion revenue bond offering for the San Francisco Bay Area Toll Bridge.

Bank of America priced the issue, which consists of $552.085 million of senior bonds made up of Series 2017- E, G, and H term-rates and $852.015 million of Series 2017-I index-rates and Series 2017 S-7 fixed-rated subordinate bonds.

The subordinate bonds were priced to yield from 0.73% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.40% with a 4% coupon in 2038. A term bond in 2042 was priced to yield 3.48% with a 4% coupon. A term bond in 2047 was priced to yield 3.54% with a 4% coupon and 3.64% with a 3.5% coupon in a split maturity. A term bond in 2049 was priced to yield 3.59% with a 4% coupon. This portion of the deal is rated A1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus by S&P Global Ratings.

The $209.36 million of 2017 Series E senior term rate was priced at par to yield 1.375% in 2053. The $153.975 million of 2017 Series G term rate was priced at par to yield 2.125% in 2053. The $188.75 million of 2017 Series H term rate bond was priced at par to yield 2.25% in 2053. These bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA by S&P and Fitch Ratings.

Wells Fargo Securities priced the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s $496.5 million of Series 2017B gross revenue transit bonds.

The bonds were priced to yield from 1.02% with a 5% coupon in 2019 to 2.86% with a 5% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2042 was priced to yield 2.96% with a 5% coupon.

The deal is rated AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.

Since 2007, BATA has issued $13.70 billion of securities, with the most issuance occurring in 2010 when it sold $2.38 billion. The authority did not come to market in 2011 or 2015 through 2016 – Tuesday’s sales put it at nearly $2 billion of issuance for the year, the fourth time the authority has issued that much in a year going back a decade.

BB-080217-MUN

Goldman Sachs priced Austin, Texas’ $311.365 million of water and wastewater system revenue refunding bonds on Tuesday.

The bonds were priced to yield from 1.15% with a 5% coupon in 2020 to 2.88% with a 5% coupon in 2037. A term bond in 2042 was priced to yield 2.98% with a 5% coupon and a term bond in 2046 was priced to yield 3.03% with a 5% coupon.

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

Piper Jaffray priced the city of San Antonio, Texas’ $181.165 million of general improvement bonds and combination tax and revenue certificates of obligations and tax notes on Tuesday.

The $88.195 million of general improvement bonds were priced at par to yield 5.00% in 2019 to yield 3.10% with a 4% coupon in 2037. The 2019 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.

The $74.24 million of combination tax and revenue COO’s were priced at par to yield 3.00% in 2019 to yield 3.10% with a 4% coupon in 2037. The 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.

The $18.73 million of tax notes were priced at par to yield 5% in 2019 and to yield 1.11% with a 5% coupon in 2020. The 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.

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

In the competitive arena on Tuesday, the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois sold $188.38 million of Series 2017A general obligation refunding bonds.

BAML won the bonds with a true interest cost of 2.76%.

The bonds were priced to yield from 1.09% with a 5% coupon in 2019 to 2.71% with a 5% coupon in 2029. The bonds were also priced to yield from 3.20% with a 5% coupon in 2031 to 3.25% with a 3% coupon in 2032 and to yield from 3.40% with a 4% coupon in 2034 to 3.43% with a 4% coupon in 2035.

The deal is rated AA by S&P and Fitch.

Oakland, Calif., competitively sold $116.09 million of bonds in two separate offerings.

Fidelity Capital Markets won the $59.93 million of Series 2017A-1 Measure KK tax-exempt GOs with a TIC of 3.59% while Raymond James won the $56.16 million of Series 2017A-2 Measure KK taxable GOs with a TIC of 3.15%.

The deals are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.

Bond Buyer reports 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $990.6 million to $12.87 billion on Tuesday. The total is comprised of $6.04 billion of competitive sales and $6.83 billion of negotiated deals.

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