Piper Jaffray Maintains Overweight on Hallmark Financial (HALL)

Piper Jaffray is out with its report today on Hallmark Financial HALL, maintaining Overweight. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We continue to rate shares of Hallmark Financial Overweight with an $11.00 price target following marketing meetings with Chairman Mark Schwarz and CEO Mark Morrison. The meetings re-affirmed our investment thesis on the name and our view that 2010 represented an anomaly in terms of underwriting results, as evidenced by not one but two hail storms in the state of Montana. Furthermore, we believe the company's investment management approach continues to generate above peer group results, allowing it to build a core competency beyond its underwriting." Shares of HALL closed Monday at $8.31, up 0.97% from Friday's close.