** 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))