Buffalo Wild Wings Activist Investor Says Its Proposals Could Boost Shares By 2 1/2 Times In Four Years

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. activist investor Marcato Capital Management said in a letter to shareholders that voting to add its recommendations to the board could lift the stock to over $400 by 2021. That would be about 2 1/2-times Monday's closing price of $159.20. Marcato, which owns 6.1% of the casual dining chain's outstanding shares, urged shareholders to "hold the board and management accountable for unacceptable, persistent underperformance" of the stock. "We invested in Buffalo Wild Wings...because we believed that the shares were significantly undervalued with the potential to increase meaningfully over a multi-year investment horizon," the letter said. "After BWLD's management team and board repeatedly refused to engage in productive discussions with us regarding these opportunities, the company--once again--delivered disappointing financial results for the first quarter of 2017." Through Monday, the stock has shed 2% since the company reported first-quarter profit and sales that missed expectations. The stock has gained 3.1% year to date, while the SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF has rallied 11% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.