Jun. 12--Boosted by its plan to raise billions in new capital, Regions Financial received a thumbs-up from Goldman Sachs on Thursday as the brokerage giant upgraded Regions to a buy rating.

Regions was among a handful of regional bank stocks that landed positive ratings from Goldman analysts. It was the sixth largest bank in Central Florida, with deposits of $.175 billion at 81 branches in mid-2008, according to most recently available data. Regions and AmSouth merged two years ago to boost the Regions footprint locally.

Regions' stock closed at $4.37 a share, up 9.2 percent on Thursday.

The Birmingham, AL-based bank recently said its plan to raise $2.5 billion in new capital had been approved by government regulators. Regions crafted the plan in response to the government stress-test analysis, which projected the bank could lose more than $9 billion if the recession worsens.

Regions said it has already raised nearly $2.1 billion through a stock offering and conversion of preferred shares. The bank expects to raise additional funds from stock sales to holders of preferred shares, through the sale of certain business units and other measures.

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