Calamos Asset Management Growth Appears Undervalued

Keefe Bruyette & Woods is raising the price target of Calamos Asset Management

to $15 from $12 and raising 2010 and 2011 EPS estimates to $0.88 (from $0.83) and $0.95 (from $0.85). It also is upgrading CLMS to Outperform from Market Perform. Risks to achieving the price target include CLMS revenues and earnings are very sensitive to changes in AUM, which are a function of investment performance and investment returns on existing assets. Also, CLMS has a complex corporate structure with voting control residing with the Calamos family. Accordingly, public shareholders have little say over the operations and deployment of excess capital. CLMS closed Wednesday at $12