Bank of Hawaii has lost its two-year reign as the nation’s best bank, but not by much.

The state’s second-largest bank by assets was ranked No. 2 by Forbes magazine for 2011 among the 100 largest U.S. banks and thrifts. The rankings were published in Forbes’ Dec. 13 online edition.

"Attaining this ranking speaks positively about our community, our clients and especially our employees who work so hard to fulfill our customers’ needs," Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii’s chairman, president and CEO, said Monday.

"It’s particularly gratifying to be named among the top-performing banks for all three years that Forbes has conducted this ranking."

Bankoh, which has assets of $13 billion and 70 branches in Hawaii, trailed only Texas-based Prosperity Bankshares. Prosperity has $9.6 billion in assets and operates 176 branches in Texas.

Forbes said Bankoh continues to be among the most profitable banks with a return on average equity during the past 12 months of 15.6 percent, which ranks second among all banks.

Forbes teamed with SNL Financial to evaluate U.S.-owned banks and thrift institutions ranking in asset size from $4.6 billion (Beneficial Mutual Bancorp) to $2.3 trillion (JPMorgan Chase).

First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii’s largest bank by assets, is owned by French banking giant BNP Paribas SA and wasn’t eligible for the list.

The rankings were based on eight financial performance measures: return on average equity, net interest margin, nonperforming loans as a percentage of loans, nonperforming assets as a percentage of assets, reserves as a percentage of nonper- forming loans, two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based) and leverage ratio.

Bankoh’s stock closed down 64 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $42.19 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.