Jefferies Reiterates Hold Rating on Eaton Vance (EV)

Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Hold rating on Ashland EV; it has a $31.00 price target on the stock. The Jefferies analysts cited a recent presentation by company management, where they said assets under management continued to grow, currently at $185.2 billion. The company noted strength in its Global Macro Fund and highlighted its recently launched Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund as its new growth platform. The new fund (~$50M) has a slightly different positioning with less emphasis on investing in emerging markets (giving it enhanced capacity to grow), and targeting higher alpha/higher volatility. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “Our $31 price target is based on an approx. 16x multiple of our CY11 EPS est., a slight premium to peers. EV is currently trading at ~15x our CY11 est.”