Jefferies Cuts Price Target onEaton Vance (EV), Sees Continued Margin Compression

Jefferies is maintaining its Hold rating on shares of Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV) as it lowers its price target on the shares from $34 to $26.

On August 10, the company announced that assets under management were $199 billion for the quarter, $2 billion ahead of what the firm was anticipating, but 2 percent down from the previous quarter and 0.5 percent down from the previous month.

The firm is predicts continued margin compression due to market headwinds and continued outflows from certain higher fee products.

As a result of the sharp correction in the markets recently, Jefferies is lowering its FY11 and FY12 EPS estimates from $1.91 and $2,28 to $1.85 and $2.05.

An analyst at Jefferies comments, "fund flow trends across the platform continue to deteriorate given the volatile macro backdrop and weak investment performance in certain products. At approx. 11.5x our CY 2012 EPS, we view the shares as fairly valued."

For more ratings news on Eaton Vance click here and for the rating history of Eaton Vance click here.

Shares of Eaton Vance closed at $23.97 yesterday.

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