Morgan Stanley downgrades BankUnited to Equal Weight on midcap bank concerns. As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Ken Zerbe downgraded BankUnited to Equal Weight from Overweight, stating that recent commentary from other midcap banks has been incrementally more negative. Five midcap banks - Associated Banc-Corp (ASB), Comerica (CMA), KeyCorp (KEY), M&T Bank (MTB) and Webster Financial (WBS) - have recently guided for loan growth below expectations and several others flagged headwinds to growth, Zerbe tells investors. The primary headwind is weaker CRE loan growth as non-bank lenders remain highly aggressive with both price and terms, the analyst added. BankUnited's CRE portfolio, at 43% of total loans versus peers at 27%, could be at greater risk of runoff, said Zerbe. He also reduced his expectations at 21 of 28 midcap banks he covers and cut his EPS estimates for 18 of those 28 banks.
