Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) has been given an “A” credit rating by Morningstar. The investment research firm’s “A” rating indicates that the company is a low default risk. They also gave their stock a four star rating.

In other Eaton Vance Corp news, Director Leo I. Higdon, Jr. sold 8,402 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $303,144.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,061.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Faust, Jr. sold 175,152 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $6,372,029.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,277 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,197.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Eaton Vance Corp stock. EQIS Capital Management boosted its stake in Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) by 179.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,018 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,768 shares during the period. EQIS Capital Management’s holdings in Eaton Vance Corp were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Shares of Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) opened at 28.355 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.94. Eaton Vance Corp has a 52 week low of $26.64 and a 52 week high of $44.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion and a PE ratio of 14.768.

Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 24th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The business earned $341.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Eaton Vance Corp will post $2.30 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This is a boost from Eaton Vance Corp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 27th.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on EV. Piper Jaffray restated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Eaton Vance Corp in a research report on Wednesday, November 11th. RBC Capital lowered their price objective on Eaton Vance Corp from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 25th. Susquehanna upgraded Eaton Vance Corp from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 19th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Eaton Vance Corp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TheStreet cut Eaton Vance Corp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Eaton Vance Corp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.31.

Eaton Vance Corp is managing investment funds and providing investment management and advisory services to institutions and high-net-worth individuals. The Company develops and sustains management expertise across a range of investment disciplines and offers investment products and services through multiple distribution channels. The Company’s principal investment affiliates Eaton Vance Management, Parametric, Atlanta Capital and Hexavest offer a range of strategies. The Eaton Vance Management offers Equity, income and alternative strategies based on in-depth fundamental analysis. The Parametric offers rules-based alpha-seeking equity, alternative and options strategies and implementation services. The Atlanta Capital actively manages high-quality US stock and bond portfolios constructed using bottom-up fundamental analysis. The Hexavest offer global equity and tactical allocation strategies combining fundamental research and quantitative models.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:EV

To view more credit ratings from Morningstar, visit www.jdoqocy.comclick-7674909-10651170.

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