BMO Capital analyst Lana Chan started Regions Financial (RF) with an Outperform rating and $17 price target. The analyst left the company's recent investor day "impressed" with its three-year strategy to improve profitability through further efficiency gains and with "seemingly moderate" credit risk. This would "upshift" Regions' profitability and should improve its "historically discounted" valuation to peers, Chan tells investors in a research note. The analyst's order of preference among Outperform-rated regional banks are BB&T (BBT), Regions, and Citizens Financial (CFG).

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"We continue to focus on the successful execution of our strategic plan, and that is reflected in our core performance," said John Turner, Chairman and CEO of Regions Financial Corp. Turner added, "Our results reflect the strength and diversity of our balance sheet, robust liquidity position, and proactive interest rate risk management practices. Our hedging strategies position us for success in a vast array of economic conditions and support our commitment to generating consistent, sustainable long-term performance as we once again generated top-quartile returns and a peer-leading net interest margin."