UPDATE: Consumers Bancorp, CBKM Minerva, OH (CBKM)
Shortly after I reviewed Consumers Bancorp for the first time in 2019, Covid hit.
One of our government’s more or less immediate responses to the Covid crisis was to flood banks with cheap deposits. Banks nation-wide responded in one of three ways to this flood of cash.
The most clownish of these responses was to invest in long term securities and loans that required a lasting flow of cheap deposits, as I described in an October 2025 post titled “Interest Rate Clown Acts.” Predictably, when interest rates rose, the book values and margins of these banks took a severe and long-lasting hit. (Happily, Consumers Bancorp is not among these.)
The most conservative banks treated this flood as a complete aberration. They resisted temptations to squeeze some extra margin off the flow, so their securities portfolios did not get whacked when rates rose after the crisis. Consequently, Covid’s impact on their performance was minimal.
In between these two were banks, like Consumers National, who tried to ride the cash wave, but less recklessly than the clowns. They took on longer term loans and securities, but at a less extreme scale and with better matching of assets to liabilities. Their margins and book values took a moderate hit, but have mostly recovered faster than their current stock prices reflect, presenting some solid opportunities for investors.
Disclosure: As of this posting, I own shares of CBKM and may subsequently either dispose of them or purchase more.
Prospective Buyers
These neighboring banks would likely be open to acquiring Consumers National. However, Consumers is earning its right to remain independent and intends to do so.
Farmers National Banc, Canfield, OH (FMNB)
First Commonwealth Financial. Indiana, PA (FCF)
Northwest Bancshares, Columbus, OH (NWBI)
Financial Snapshot
The Crew
Frank L. Padon, Chairman
Ralph J. Lober II, President and CEO
Laurie L. McClellan, Director
The Skinny
CBKM presents a solid value for investors.
Since 2019, assets have nearly doubled, earnings are up 50%, and if you add back the securities losses, book value is up nearly 60%, and yet the stock price is only up 25%. From here, book value can increase to the mid $30s, earnings likely will stay above $3, and the stock can trade in the high $30s.
Management is increasing their own skin in the game.
Insider trading reports suggest that Consumer Bancorp’s management team is seeing the same opportunity I am and believes in their own ability to increase the bank’s value. Over the past 12 months, there have been 40 open market purchases of CBKM by insiders, and not a single insider sale. Insiders currently own just under 13% of CBKM.
Consumers National Bank is a valuable franchise.
Consumers National operates in 23 Ohio towns. In nine of those towns, they are the only bank. In their hometown of Minerva, they are #1 with 63.5% of the deposits vs Huntington with 36.5%. Banks with this much marketshare tend to be more profitable than the average bank.
Sources
Bank
Other
Confidential interviews with shareholders and analysts
To make an update-towards the end of January 2026, both the CEO/President and a Director bought 500 shares between them.