Securities-related class action suits in the United States are on track to outpace last year’s totals, but settlements are down notably, according to new research.

A new study from NERA Economic Consulting reports that through the first half of the year, 116 class actions have been filed in U.S. federal court, putting full year filings on pace for 232 suits. This would represent a modest increase from the 224 suits filed in 2011, and the average of 217 class actions filed annually between 1996 and 2011.

While the overall number of filings hasn’t changed much, the type of case has. Last year, NERA saw a wave of filings against Chinese-based companies, however this has dropped off in 2012, with only 10 cases being filed so far this year, less than half the 2011 rate.

Merger objection cases continue to be a major portion of total filings, as they have since 2010, it notes. The share of filings against companies in the financial sector also continued to decline from its peak in 2008 and 2009, NERA says, with only 11% of the filings so far this year involving issuers in the financial sector.

Also, the research found that settlements of class actions have dropped significantly. At their current pace, settlements in 2012 will be at their lowest level since 1999, it says, as only 49 cases have settled in the first half. This puts the projected full-year total at 98, which would be down sharply from 128 settlements in 2010 and 123 in 2011.

The value of those settlements is up year over year however. NERA reports that the average value of a securities class action settlement in the first half of 2012 was $71 million, up from the average value of $31 million last year. Although, it notes that the 2012 average received a boost from the $1 billion settlement in a suit involving American International Group, Inc.

Excluding that case, the average settlement was still up to $41 million. The median settlement amount in the first six months of 2012 was $7.9 million, approximately the same as in 2011, and consistent with pre-credit crisis levels, NERA adds.