Regions Financial Gives Back Gains; Bank Atlantic Riding High (RF, BBX, PNC)

A report in the South Florida Business Journal has sparked M&A rumors in the regional banking sector on Wednesday. The paper reported that PNC Financial

is looking to buy branches in Florida and named Regions

and BankAtlantic

as possible acquisition targets. Both stocks opened today's trading session sharply higher on the back of the report. Regions (

) shares, however, have given back much of their gains after Dow Jones Newswires reported PNC was not in talks to buy the bank, citing people familiar with the matter. Currently, RF is trading 2.10% higher at $6.33. BankAtlantic

, on the other hand, has retained its gains and is currently 13.73% higher at $0.978 on the session.