Analyst sees 20 pct profit rise at PrivateBancorp

Shares gained $1.20, or 3.4 percent, to $36.63. Shares have traded between $25.41 and $38.74 in the past 12 months.

In a note to clients Tuesday, analyst Steven Alexopoulos established a 2010 profit estimate of $2.85 per share and a 12-month target price of $57.

"We see substantial positive operating leverage tied to new hires, new customers, as well as additional capital," wrote Alexopoulos. "We believe that with a major transformation of the company under way, PrivateBancorp has repositioned itself as a 20 percent bottom-line grower over the longer term."

Alexopoulos also predicted the company will reach $17 billion in assets by 2010 from about $6 billion currently.

On Friday, PrivateBancorp said it issued $125 million in trust preferred securities. This closely followed the company's authorization to increase the number of shares to 89 million from 39 million. The increase will support PrivateBancorp's capital-raising efforts and other future growth initiatives, the company said in a statement.

To account for the impact of additional debt and equity, Alexopoulos reduced his 2008 estimate to a loss of 36 cents per share from a loss of 28 cents per share, and his 2009 profit estimate to $1.34 per share from $1.90 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, estimate a loss of 44 cents per share in 2008 and a profit of $1.39 per share in 2009.

Also on Tuesday, the Chicago-based company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 7.5 cents payable June 30 to shareholders of record as of June 16.