Carl Icahn May Take A Bite Of McDonald's Corporation

Shares of McDonald’s Corporation MCD on Monday climbed as high as 2.7 percent, marking the largest percentage gain of the year for the world’s biggest restaurant company.

With nearly three times the regular volume, shares reached $97.30 at one point during Monday’s trading but have since settled back to around $95.09; the stock has still lost 1.1 percent of its value over the last 12 months.

Speculation began to spread about the possibility of interest from a big-time investor looking to buy up some shares of the stock. One of the names thrown around, of course, was that of billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who has yet to respond to the speculation.

Related Link: Guy Adami Thinks That McDonald's Corporation Is Going Higher

According to Sterne Agee analyst Lynne Collier, there may be some merit to the rumors.

"I think it’s possible," Collier told Benzinga. "McDonald’s has an unbelievably strong record and has had a little bit more of a challenge in the last few years."

That challenge, she said, has come primarily in the form of declines in same-store sales in both U.S. and Asian markets. Because of this, the stock may now be trading at a discount, which would make the stock attractive to big-time investors like Icahn.

"Relative to its historical multiple and its competitors, the stock is undervalued," said Collier.

This should all be taken with a grain of salt. Only last month the stock price of Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM saw an impressive spike on rumors that Icahn was considering buying shares; nothing has yet to come of those rumors.

The only thing for certain is that Icahn has been on a incredibly successful streak. He bought a stake in eBay Inc EBAY earlier this and pressured it to spin off PayPal, which occurred Tuesday morning. Icahn and eBay investors stand to take a nice profit.

Other recent successes include a $200 million profit from his Family Dollar Stores, Inc. stake and his $800 million take from the ascendancy of Netflix, Inc.