Fitch Ratings-New York-14 November 2019: Last quarter saw a bump in rating activity for U.S. municipal credits with upgrades again exceeding downgrades, according to Fitch Ratings in its latest Rating Actions & Sector Updates report for U.S. public finance.
As of third-quarter 2019 (3Q’19), the quarterly special report consolidates content from previous U.S. Public Finance Rating Actions and Sector Briefing special reports, and discusses the latest key credit issues for each sector.
Fitch upgraded 45 U.S. public finance security ratings and downgraded 31 in 3Q’19, compared with 34 upgrades and 19 downgrades in 2Q’19. Positive Rating Outlooks and Watches also increased by four to 99 (from 95 in 2Q’19) while Negative Rating Outlooks and Watches fell to 102 in 3Q’19 compared with 106 in 2Q’19.
On Oct. 7, 2019, Fitch resolved all 42 public power long-term ratings placed Under Criteria Observation after revisions to the U.S. Public Power Rating Criteria in April 2019. Nine out of 16 public power long-term rating upgrades and all four downgrades in 3Q’19 were the result of the criteria revision.
‘U.S. Public Finance Rating Actions & Sector Updates: Third-Quarter 2019’ is available at ‘www.fitchratings.com’.
Contact:
Laura Porter
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Public Finance
+1 (212) 908-0575
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
300 West 57th Street
New York, NY, 10019
Dennis Pidherny
Managing Director, U.S. Public Power Analytical Lead
+1 (212) 908-0738
Media Relations: Sandro Scenga, New York, Tel: +1 212 908 0278, Email: [email protected]
Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com