UPDATE: Citigroup Upgrades Eaton Vance to Neutral on Better Understanding of Company Issues

Citigroup increases its rating on Eaton Vance

from Sell to Neutral, but reduces its price target from $24 to $23.50 per share. Citigroup notes, "Upgrade to Neutral from Sell but lower target $0.50 to $23.50, or 11.5x-12x revised FTM EPS. It is tough to get bullish on EV following uneven F2Q12, equally mixed post quarter recap, and reduced sector multiples. However, with the stock down ~20% from March, the P/E multiple collapsing, and some signs of flow stabilization, we believe idiosyncratic downside is less compelling – even as we further lower EPS estimates. Even at 10x FTM, downside ETR is not overly compelling, and we do not believe EV is fatally flawed that would argue for such a low sustained multiple." EV closed at $23.98 on Wednesday.