PrivateBancorp Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of commercial banker PrivateBancorp (NAS: PVTB) rallied as much as 15% in early trading before closing up 11% for the day as third-quarter earnings handily beat estimates.

So what: Profits came in at $0.14 a share, $0.07 better than the average estimate as tracked by S&P Capital IQ. The bank's loan-loss provision also fell roughly $8 million when compared with last year's Q3. Bad deals are apparently being retired as new money gets put to work.

Now what: Wall Street has to be pleased. Analysts rank PrivateBancorp as one of the six fast-growing regional banks by revenue growth. IberiaBank (NAS: IBKC) leads the list, producing 32% annual sales gains over the past five years. PrivateBancorp has grown sales 24% annually over the same period. Which bank would you buy? Neither? Both? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool owns shares of IberiaBank. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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