Synovus initiated with a Neutral at UBS

UBS analyst Brody Preston initiated coverage of Synovus with a Neutral rating and $33 price target. The company is a well run commercial bank that has dramatically improved its credit profile since the financial crisis and its stock trades at a "reasonably low" valuation, but the firm also sees a lower level on Fed Funds than is baked into consensus and higher net charge-off estimates given an outlook for a mild recession, the analyst tells investors in a research note.