** U.S. lender Truist Financial's shares TFC.N fall 1.2% to $40.51 premarket

** Raymond James downgrades to "market perform" from "outperform"

** Says the lender's path to improving profitability is increasingly challenged under current market conditions

** "While management continues to pitch its offensive positioning following the recent sale of Truist Insurance Holdings/improved capital positioning and continued investments across its businesses, we are more skeptical about its ability to translate these tailwinds into improved profitability over the medium-term"

** Avg rating of 22 brokerages is the equivalent of "buy"; median PT is $50 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, TFC stock down 5.4% YTD compared to a 4.2% decline in the S&P 500 .SPX

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru)

((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com; ))