UPDATE: Bank of America Downgrades BankUnited to Neutral, Lowers PT to $30

Bank of America downgrades BankUnited

to Neutral from Buy and lowers its price target to $25 from $30 as the company confirms it pursued strategic alternatives (rumored sale?), which now are said to have ended. Bank of America says, "After several days of press speculation about a pending sale, BKU confirmed post mkt close on 1/18 that it did pursue strategic alternatives. BKU notes that this process has ended and that it plans to pursue its original strategy of growing the bank independently. As a reminder, a potential sale was a complete strategic “about face” for the company, and we were puzzled by it as we estimate BKU could be worth less in a deal today vs. standalone. (Press reports note than BKU ended its sale effort as bids were too low.) Shares will likely be weak today, especially given the 8% run following the initial reports of a potential sale." BKU closed at $24.95 per share on Wednesday.