** Goldman Sachs upgrades Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI to "buy" from "hold" in a sector note on Italian banks, saying recent underperformance creates an attractive entry point for investors
** It cites Intesa's continued net interest income (NII) and fee income increase, its "improved efficiency", and capital distribution yield of 11% as key reasons behind the upgrade
** The brokerage initiates Monte dei Paschi BMPS.MI at "buy", highlighting strong financial fundamentals not completely reflected in the current valuation, with a strong upside potential coming from revenue diversification and synergies off Mediobanca's MDBI.MI acquisition
** It also initiates BPER Banca EMII.MI to "neutral", seeing limited upside to consensus estimates albeit solid profitability and capital distribution prospects
** It cuts Banco BPM BAMI.MI to "neutral" from "buy", deeming its consensus "fair" with strong fundamentals priced in