** Shares of lender M&T Bank MTB.N fall 0.87% to $203.96 in afternoon session after Truist downgrades stock rating to "hold" from "buy"
** Truist says MTB's excess‑capital advantage is no longer unique as more regional banks strengthen their balance sheets
** Investor concern persists that MTB could deploy capital for M&A, which brokerage views as a potential negative catalyst
** Truist cites improving loan growth and a slightly cheaper forward P/E as reasons to move to "hold" rather than "sell"
** 13 of 22 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or "strong buy", 8 "hold" and 1 "sell"; median PT is $220 - data compiled by LSEG
** As of last close, MTB up 9.4% YTD lagging KBW Bank Index .BKX and S&P 500 .SPX
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)
((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com))
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