Insurance and annuity company Equitable Holdings (EQH) has announced the sale of a new issue of non-cumulative preferred stock.
The qualified issue should be split investment grade–BBB- by Standard and Poors and Ba1 by Moodys.
The company last sold a preferred in 2019 (EQH-A) which carries a coupon of 5.25% and trades in the $26.25 to $26.50 area.
‘Yield Talk’ on this new issue is around 4.375%.
The preliminary prospectus can be read here.
This issue will trade OTC grey market–likely tomorrow and pricing will probably be announced after the market close today
razorback was on this one early.
Thanks for the news. Now that NGHC issues are being called, we’ll get by on EQH; we’ll just go to eating “porridge” a few nights a week. No worries!
Permanent symbol will be EQH-C.
FWP posted on company website.
4.30
done deal
EQHIL
Looks like 4.30 will be the coupon.
I placed 3 orders. My largest is filled and the 2 smaller ones are on a wait list.
Cannot find on Schwab. Called an they don’t see anything other than the “A” issue. Rep checked under EQHIL and also under the parent EQH.
I’d suggest calling their fixed income team tomorrow morning at 877-906-4670 and tell them that you need them to set up a new preferred so that you can trade it online. They should be open for calls 30 minutes before the market opens. You may need to give them the CUSIP (29452E408) as well as the OTC symbol. They can get this setup fairly quickly (under an hour) if you talk to the right person. Ask to talk to a supervisor if they act like they can’t do it for you fairly quickly. They love to act like they’ve never don’t this before and it isn’t possible.
Thank you!
razorback, what platform did you use to place/fill those orders?
razorbackea says:
09/22/2020 at 3:54 pm
Tim,
Just to be clear I have no crystal ball. When I have funds available and the one
broker I use for IPOs is a book runner for a new issue, Iām able to get preliminary price talk. I then usually give an indication of interest for shares.
When ticketing begins, some issues are sold out in a minute. Literally. Others languish. Sometimes b4 ticketing begins, demand is so strong that the book runners start talking about changes in price talk. That usually means lower yield. I get a call to confirm if I am still interested @ the lower yield. After ticketing begins, if my order is accepted I will get a call confirming the expected yield. I usually pass that on to this board. At the close of business, I can usually confirm for sure the yield. I also pass that along here.
On a day on which I have no funds available, I will not be spending time pursuing a new issue and consequently will not have any information to pass along.
Reply
Bur,
The above is a copy of a post I made to Tim in Sept 2020 explaining how I purchase @IPO. This is the path I followed today re EQH-C. Hope this helps.
For non IPO activities when I try the so called gray market, I use either Merill Edge or Charles Schwab. For new issues if my FS broker is a book runner, I try to buy @ IPO. Works better for me even though I will be paying par.
When possible if I like a new issue and the price drops below par and I want more shares I use the 2 discount brokers I mentioned.
rb, thanks for the info and thanks for your ongoing contributions here.
Hey, what do you think of cdx3 now (or should I say preferredstockinvesting.com, as it’s become)? The list/db is still useful, but the notifications seem to lag. Or maybe it’s that notifications here on III lead, so by comparison it seems that PSI lags… Anyway, you still subscribe?
Bur,
The data base does it for me. It’s unmatched.
The commentary here currently is better than at CDx3 although in times past
I thought CDx3 commentary was better. I joined CDx3 in 2010 so was there a long time. I was grandfathered in at the old rates when ownership changed so I’m still happy mainly because of the data base.
I think notifications on new issues @ CDx3 is improving under new ownership. The readers of III help with info on new issues which I think is great.
But, Tim is a more hands on guy at preferred investing than Doug was. I like that most of all re III. I appreciate what Doug did with the data base, but he was mainly a statistician although he was the best I’ve seen at his specialty.
BTW I use a full service ML broker to get IPOs of new preferred stocks and I have a broker in Little Rock, AR that I use to get new issues of Arkansas municipal bonds. Although in my nearly 50 years of investing I’ve found overall returns regarding in state municipals (in my tax bracket) superior to returns from preferreds, since the advent of QDI during Bush Jr.’s administration I have found returns of preferreds equal or better than tax exempts in taxable accounts so currently am doing more with preferreds.
In my IRAs I have concentrated on preferreds and Build America Bonds although my BABs are being continually being called away now. I built my IRA using Zero coupon treasuries back in the day and later evolved into preferreds and BABs. I do not have a pension plan so I depend on myself for funds. Consequently I focus on long term cash flow much like insurance companies do. I’m not a pinball wizard or day trader like some here are.
EQH-A is trading at YTC of 3.81% and EQH-B (non-exchange) at YTC of 3.30%. Bad as it may be 4.30% is good by comparison.
Flip only; not getting locked in for 4.3.
Price talk has been reduced to 4.30
Heavy demand for this one.
razor–thought that might happen–these insurance company issues have been rock solid.
For a 4.3% yield, I would rather just outright buy $TY-P at current prices and own the preferred shares to rule them all than an average insurance company.
I don’t do 4.375%
I was able to buy some EQH-A for under $10 in March last year, so paying full price for an inferior issue seems crazy to me.
I’d do 4.375 if it was A rated
Jacob–sounds to me like you have your best buy already š