On October 6, 2006, the shares of the company began trading under the ticker symbol "HALL" on NASDAQ. The company began operating as a publicly traded entity on September 19, 2005, with shares previously traded under the ticker symbol "HAF" on the American Stock Exchange. Formed in 1987, Hallmark Financial Services, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, initially operated a small chain of retail outlets specializing in providing financing for eyeglasses and contact lenses. The focus changed to insurance products following the 1990 acquisitions of American Hallmark Insurance Company (AHIC) and American Hallmark General Agency (AHGA). Today, the company has evolved into a holding company for a group of diversified property and casualty insurance subsidiaries that retain low-severity (low losses) and short-tailed risks (one year). The company's product structure focuses on marketing, distributing, underwriting, and servicing commercial and personal property and casualty insurance to underserved niche markets. The company provides commercial insurance in eight southern and western states (Texas, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Washington non-standard personal automobile insurance in five western states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma and Idaho) general aviation insurance in nearly every state (excluding Alaska, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C.) as well as providing other insurance related services. On December 21, 2006, Hallmark Financial Services restructured its four operating units into three operating segments: Personal Insurance segment (which consists solely of the Phoenix Operating Unit), the Standard Commercial segment (which consists solely of the HGA Operating Unit), and the Commercial Specialty Segment (which is a combination of the TGA Operating Unit and the Aerospace Operating Unit).

Standard Commercial

(Read more at Wikinvest )