In an attempt to reduce interest rate "sensitivity," JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos downgraded Comerica (CMA), Zions Bancorp (ZION) and KeyCorp (KEY) to Neutral from Overweight and upgraded Signature Bank (SBNY) to Overweight from Neutral. The analyst says his bearish call on the bank sector "remains fully intact" even though the stock are "technically now much cheaper" since his October 2018 call. The tailwinds that helped bottom line growth for banks over the past several years will "fully start transitioning into headwinds" during 2019, Alexopoulos tells investors in a research note. He suggests repositioning portfolios away from asset sensitive banks while simultaneously increasing exposure to liability sensitive banks.

UBS lowered the firm's price target on Zions Bancorp to $45 from $47 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. While "impressed" by Zions' ability to control deposit costs in a competitive backdrop, the firm thinks the liability sensitive positioning potentially puts the bank in "a precarious spot" in a higher-for-longer rate scenario and coming out of Q1 earnings the firm says it gets the sense that the net interest income trajectory from here is "well understood by the Street."