UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Upgrades Regions Financial Corporation to Buy; Levered to Real Estate Recovery

Goldman Sachs upgrades its rating on Regions Financial Corporation

from Neutral to Buy. Goldman Sachs comments, "We upgrade RF to Buy from Neutral and see 29% upside. A further recovery in real estate will drive both provisions and environmental costs lower. Although low rates hurt, RF has offsets as funding benefits and liquidity deployment mitigate asset yield pressure and drive its NIM up 10 bp by YE 2013E. While loans are still shrinking, expectations are low and a leveling off of CRE and growth in C&I, auto, and card should drive growth beyond expectations." RF closed at $6.19 on Wednesday.