Chorus Aviation IncCHR.TOCOMMENTNov 18, 2014Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 08, 2026. Market Open.
He owned it before. They operate Jazz for Air Canada. They lease and maintain airplanes, a solid business, but all airlines have been wacked since 2020. It's now a cheap stock. The story will get better. It used to pay a 5-6% dividend, not now, as the balance sheet got stretched. But there are hopes that a dividend will return, which will attract more investors.
Converted to a leasing business of planes smaller than most major airlines use, one of the major players in the world in that space. Using cashflow to pay down debt. Talk of reinstating dividend, perhaps in 2 years. Dirt cheap. Buy it, put it away, it could be a double, though it may take a while. Undervalued.
Like the larger AC, these shares have come off but are seeing a bounce. The reopening of more and more travel will benefit CHR. However, North American fundamentals in airlines may not be as strong as Asian or Europe. CHR could see less performance than the larger and more global Air Canada, but this bounce in CHR should continue for the next little while.
Operate the regional jets for Air Canada (AC.B-T). The agreement with Air Canada is coming up for renewal in 2017. Air Canada is trying to reduce the cost of some of its regional programs, so he thinks this is a risk for this company. We went through this same thing 3-4 years ago, and they still managed to operate fine, although they had to reduce their dividend. In the meantime, this is a very good cash flow generator. As an income investor, you are getting the majority of your return from income here, very little capital appreciation. If this is what you want, this is not a bad place to be.