Loan growth and bank valuations

•Faster loan growth is associated with higher bank valuations.•This finding holds under different market conditions.•This finding holds for small and medium banks, but not for large banks.

This paper examines the relation between loan growth and bank valuations. Using publicly-traded bank holding companies in the US from 2002:Q1 to 2013:Q4, we find that faster loan growth is associated with higher bank valuations. This finding holds both in normal times and during the financial crisis of 2007–2009. When we divide banks into several size groups, we find that faster loan growth is associated with higher valuations at small and medium banks, but not at large banks. Further analyses show that large banks (1) have a lower ratio of loans to total earning assets, (2) have a higher ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans, and (3) are more likely to engage in securitization activity. These characteristics help explain why the relation between loan growth and bank valuations differs at small and large banks.