Why Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. Stock Popped Today

More specifically, Restaurant Brands International will acquire Popeyes for $79.00 per share in cash, or roughly $1.8 billion. That's a premium of 27% over Popeyes' unaffected 30-trading day volume weighted average price as of Feb. 10, 2017, the last day before media reports surfaced regarding a potential deal.

Image source: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc.

Now what

Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder elaborated:

Popeyes understandably canceled its fiscal fourth-quarter 2016 earnings conference call, which was slated for later this week, but still plans to file its 2016 results and annual report with the SEC tomorrow after the market closes.

As it stands, the acquisition is still subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions, but it's expected to close in early April 2017. Given the healthy premium at which it came, I don't see much preventing that from happening. So with shares currently trading just pennies below the agreed acquisition price -- and unless holding until closer to the acquisition's close would result in more favorable long-term capital gains tax treatment -- I think Popeyes shareholders would be wise to take their profits and put them to work elsewhere.

10 stocks we like better than Popeyes Louisiana KitchenWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017

Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.