Over the last several years, Banknorth Group has risen from Maine’s deep green depths to breaking surface in Boston, reopening the recently acquired Broad Street MetroWest branch under its own moniker.

Bank officials say the institution has consistently reached all of the growth goals that have been set. Most are certain that within three to five years it will reach yet another milestone, that of having between $30 billion and $35 billion in assets. The question remains, however: Once that goal is reached, will the bank be sold and to whom?

The Portland, Maine-based company is poised to release its second-quarter earnings next week, and if analyst estimates are correct, the bank will once again show a solid performance.

RBC Capital Markets reported it expects Banknorth to post 16 percent earnings growth over the same period last year. “Earnings growth should be driven by moderate loan growth, significant year-over-year margin expansion and double-digit fee revenue growth,” read the report.

Banknorth currently holds assets of $22 billion, substantially more than just a few years ago. “If you look at where Banknorth was five years ago, they were predominantly a Maine-based banking entity that recognized the growth opportunities within the state of Maine were modest to moderate at best and embarked upon an acquisition strategy that enabled them to branch out into more attractive markets,” said RBC’s James Ackor.

Today, Banknorth holds entities in Connecticut, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. In the past year, Banknorth has substantially increased its holdings in Massachusetts. Banknorth Chief Executive Officer William J. Ryan had predicted the bank would be seeking double-digit market share in Massachusetts before Banknorth embarked on a spate of acquisitions. Banknorth Massachusetts now has 114 branches scattered from the Western-most border to the Cape Ann area and south into Boston.

Peter J. Verrill, Banknorth’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said the acquisitions all have been targeted toward markets in which the bank already has a presence and adjacent territories.

“Our strategy is to look for institutions that are similar in nature to Banknorth in terms of our community banking efforts,” he said. Other attributes that would make an acquisition target attractive include systems and technology that would make it easier to integrate into the Banknorth collective. But unlike other aquisitors, Banknorth has kept local boards of directors on, as well as local lending officers.

The bank has capitalized on its service record to customers, but as it grows, that level of service may become more difficult to provide.

“That’s the crux,” said Verrill. “Our focus has to continue to be on community banking. If we lost that edge, I think we do become another Fleet[Boston Financial] or another Citizens [Bank] or Sovereign [Bank]. The way we try to maintain that focus is by providing as much local decision-making authority in each of the markets as we can.”

When the bank had assets of $10 billion, Ackor recalls Ryan saying the bank felt it could maintain the service orientation that differentiates it from some of their larger competitors even at $20 billion.

“I think that they [bank officials] feel at this point as though they could grow the bank to $30 billion to $35 billion in total assets and still maintain that community-bank feel,” said Ackor.

North to South

Although Banknorth has holdings in Upstate New York, Verrill said they don’t intend to extend their reach farther south. “You never say never, but I guess I would say right now that our first strategy would be to consolidate and build our franchise in the Greater Albany area before we try to move South,” said Verrill. However, the focus has been and will remain on strengthening Banknorth’s market share in Massachusetts and Connecticut, he said.

With the recent opening of its 15 Broad St. location in Boston, Banknorth now has a presence in Hub for the first time, but don’t expect to see branches popping up all over the city. “We don’t have any plans to open any additional branches in Boston, but that wouldn’t preclude us from acquisitions in which the companies we may acquire would have branches in downtown Boston,” said Verrill, who added that the new Boston location is largely for the convenience of its commuting customers rather than an effort to capture substantial market share in the city.

Ackor said the bank opted to keep the Boston location following the acquisition of MetroWest despite its philosophy that competing in Boston is not an “ideal” situation for Banknorth. “They [Banknorth] would prefer to compete on the periphery of Boston in any number of bedroom communities where they have a substantial market share and effective presence to compete with the likes of Fleet, Sovereign and Citizens,” said Ackor.

With each passing quarter of success, rumors abound about the likelihood of Banknorth itself becoming the target of an acquisition. Verrill agreed that as its market share increases, the franchise becomes increasingly attractive to entities that see the acquisition of Banknorth as an entryway into the New England market. “But we can’t focus on that right now. The only thing we can focus on is to continue to do the best job we can to service our customers, provide good returns to our shareholders and let the chips fall where they may. We’re not trying to establish ourselves to be acquired, but we are trying to make ourselves a strong, high-performing company,” Verrill said.

Ackor said there are any number of entities that might be interested in buying Banknorth, ranging from Citizens Bank to others without a New England presence like Bank of America. “It’s not front-burner for any of these guys [larger banks],” said Ackor. “If they [Banknorth] get to the point where they are of a size of $30 billion to $35 billion in total assets, they’re going to attract a lot more attention.”

A spokesman for Banknorth said Ryan doesn’t plan to sell in three to four years despite ongoing speculation. “What Mr. Ryan has said is that we will run the bank as best we can and that he hopes to retire from the bank at 65. He is 58,” said Brian Arsenault. “He has, however, acknowledged that there is the possibility we could be a target at some point and that we will do what is best for our shareholders, as is our obligation.”

Verrill said he doesn’t expect the pace of acquisitions made by Banknorth to slow. In February, it was announced that the bank would purchase Ipswich Bancshares. Since then, the bank announced in April the acquisition of Bancorp Connecticut and in May an insurance company in New York was brought into the fold.