Regions Financial upgraded to Buy at Argus after regional bank stock pullback

As previously reported, Argus analyst Kevin Heal upgraded Regions Financial (RF) to Buy from Hold with a $26 price target Regional bank shares have faced pressure since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, amid higher funding costs and concerns about commercial office real estate exposure. Regional bank stocks as a group have come off their recent highs and the firm believes the recent pullback “presents an opportunity in larger regional banks,” the analyst tells investors. Regions continues to take “prudent steps” to control expenses and to manage credit and interest-rate risk, says the analyst, who looks for recent acquisitions and higher interest rates in the loan book to drive earnings growth.