after a wild ride in bank stocks kbw upgrades fifth third huntington bancshares popular and columbia banking system but cuts view on pnc and atlantic union bankshares kbw on thursday upgraded four bank stocks and cut its view on two as it surveys the effects of a brutal selloff in recent weeks after the collapse of silicon valley bank and ahead of firstquarter earnings updates starting friday april 14 meanwhile bank stocks were lifted thursday by comments from st louis federal reserve president james bullard about reduced stress in the financial system in recent days the kbw nasdaq bank index rose 12 on thursday but its still down about 20 so far in 2023 compared with a 62 increase in the sp 500 and a 14 jump in the nasdaq  kbw said it expects bank stocks to be affected by relative balancesheet performance on deposits liquidity and capital as key factors as looks toward firstquarter results kbw cut its median 2023 earnings estimates for banks by 8 and reduced its 2025 collective earnings view by 11 kbws most recent look at industry deposit data points to stabilization in small bank deposits analysts said but deposits and liquidity levels will be area of focus in earnings reports kbw said its recommending overweight position in western alliance bancorp wal first citizens bancshares inc fcnca cadence bank cade metropolitan bank holding corp mcb and the bancorp inc tbbk its also recommending a pair trade of overweight us bancorp usb and underweight pnc financial services group inc pnc against this backdrop kbw downgraded pnc to underperform from market perform and shaved its price target to 125 a share from 157 kbw said pncs stock is trading at a outsized premium valuation while offering lower earnings visibility although we consider pnc a highquality superregional bank we believe the current 27 premium to the group is stretched 10 historically given expectations of lowerthanpeer returns and a higher enhanced loantodeposit ratio vs peers kbw said kbw also cut its rating on atlantic union bankshares corp aub to market perform from outperform and cut its price target to 36 a share from 42 given the risk for downward revisions in guidance at atlantic union and in light of its outperformance and premium valuation we believe a neutral rating is more appropriate at this time kbw said on the plus side kbw upgraded fifth third bancorps fitb stock to outperform from market perform while trimming its price target to 34 a share from 38 the ratings change reflects the stocks current discounted valuation against kbws expectation that fifth third will generate better returns than its peers the primary risks that could affect our earnings outlook and price target include an unexpected increase in credit costs reduced loan demand and margin pressure kbw said kbw also upgraded huntington bancshares inc hban to market perform from underperform analysts said recent stock underperformance has brought huntingtons valuation more in line with the peer group and expectations like fifth third the primary risks facing huntington bancshares include unexpected increase in credit costs reduced loan demand and margin pressure kbw said fifth third stock rose 25 while huntington bancshares rose 18 kbw also upgraded popular inc bpop to outperform from market perform and hiked its view of columbia banking system inc colb to outperform from market perform columbia banking systems stock is rallying by 62 while popular incs stock is rising by 35 also read bank stocks end tough quarter with gains as sector stabilizes despite outflows from savings accounts this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal