Evercore Partners (EVR) Remains Optimistic Despite Choppy Markets - UBS Remains Sidelined
UBS remains Neutral on Evercore Partners (NYSE: EVR), and cut the price target to $46.00 (from $59.00), following the company's 4Q earnings report. EVR reported 4Q adjusted EPS of $1.22, beating consensus of $1.05. Better than expected advisory revenues were the primary driver of the beat Management's positive tone on the strength of their M&A backlog was not surprising given the public pipeline is near record highs, and it appears the choppy markets YTD have not yet dented their optimism.
Analyst Brennan Hawken commented, "Evercore outperformed today as the advisory franchise delivered a solid revenue beat, while the firm's M&A backlog remains very strong. The Evercore ISI equities business also showed seasonally strong revenues of nearly $64 million, although the equities operating margin declined to 15.9% in the quarter versus 18.4% in 3Q15. Nonetheless, the 15.2% equities operating margin for FY2015 was sufficient for the first tranche of deal-related G units to vest. Notably, there were no changes to management's forecasts for the number of shares that are ultimately expected to be issued as a result of the ISI deal, although we continue to believe some of the targets will prove difficult to achieve (particularly those tied to revenue growth)."
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Shares of Evercore Partners closed at $45.05 yesterday.