** Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raises PT on lender PNC PNC.N to $247 from $228

** New PT is 10.6% upside to stock's last close

** Brokerage cites faster operating leverage gains, higher capital markets activity

** Says M&A remains possibility due to well-documented benefits of scale, but until that materializes, brokerage expects focus will be on execution

** Acquisition of FirstBank could be viewed as appetizer until something more meaningful presents itself, but in interim focus remains on achieving positive operating leverage, brokerage says

** 18 of 24 brokerages rate stock "buy", 5 "hold" and 1 "sell"; their median PT is $245 - data compiled by LSEG

** Including session's move, PNC up 10.9% in last 12 months

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)

((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com))