BUZZ-Regal Entertainment: Despite jump, shares well shy of Cineworld offer

** Movie-theater chain Regal up 4 percent before the market open on Wednesday, a day after confirming it is in talks to be bought by British peer Cineworld for $3.6 billion

** Rally adds to 7.6 percent rise on Tuesday when Reuters first broke the news of Cineworld all-cash offer of $23/share

** Still, RGC currently at $20.70 pre-market, is well below offer price; The stock last hit $23 in mid-February

** Regal says no agreement yet; Cineworld slides after confirming talks and saying it is finalizing due diligence

** RBC Capital Markets says "high probability" of a deal, hikes PT to $23 but notes recent jump in stock on M&A expectations; Brokerage Benchmark also boosts PT to $23

** Before the two increases, Wall Street's median PT was $19.50 on RGC

** RBC says offer values RGC at 8.6x its 2018 EBITDA estimate, roughly in line with historical avg but above levels before recent M&A chatter and where U.S. peers are currently trading

** Regal up 20 percent this month so far, cutting its losses this year to 4.7 pct

** U.S. industry leader AMC Entertainment (Frankfurt: A1W90H - news) is down 52 percent so far in 2017, despite a 16 percent jump this month (Reporting by Savio D'Souza; Editing by Bernard Orr)