Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Eaton Vance Corp (EV)

Since Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) has encountered falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there were a few fund managers who were dropping their positions entirely heading into Q4. It’s worth mentioning that James Parsons’s Junto Capital Management said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds studied by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $18.2 million in stock. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also sold off its call options, about $0.6 million worth.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) but similarly valued. These stocks are CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX), CSRA Inc (MYSE:CSRA), Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC), and Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY). This group of stocks’ market caps match EV’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 25.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $723 million. That figure was $15 million in EV’s case. CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) is even less popular than EQY. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.