Banking stocks are the premarket sector to watch (BAC, GS, C)

Several banking stocks are benefiting early Monday from noted financial bear Meredith Whitney’s bullish comments on the sector.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shares are up about 5 percent to $12.50 on premaket volume of 3 million shares, after the analyst said BofA is the cheapest of the banking names, based on her analysis of tangible book value.

Also rising are shares of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), up about 4 percent to $147 on volume of nearly 250,000 shares, after it was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Meredith Whitney Advisory Group.

Other stocks in the group also are seeing increased volumes in the early going.

Whitney, a former analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. became well known for being one of the only bearish analysts on the banking sector back in 2007, making timely calls on stocks including Citigroup (NYSE: C). She has since started her possess analytical firm, and today is publicizing her firm’s bullish views on individual stocks in the sector for the first time. — Mike Tarsala