Mick McGuire of Marcato Asset Management has big aspirations about his latest endeavor, restaurant and sports bar chain Buffalo Wild Wings.
The activist investor told CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report" on Thursday that after consulting with industry specialists he is confident that Buffalo Wild Wings will thrive with proper restructuring of the company's business model.
In August, McGuire sent a letter to the Buffalo Wild Wings' chairman, James Damian, criticizing the company and listing "critical missteps" it made in managing its capital.
McGuire, who was previously a partner at Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, met with experts specializing in mergers and acquisitions and refranchising efforts to discuss his vision for Buffalo Wild Wings — a move away from buying in franchisees and toward a more franchised business model.
The shift, he said, would mean "higher margins, higher returns on capital, a higher multiple and quite a bit higher stock price."
Not only did specialists validate McGuire's analysis, but according to him, they called his estimate very realistic, if not conservative. If executed properly, a more highly franchised business model would bring Buffalo Wild Wings' stock to the $400 to $450 range over the next four years. The shares currently trade around $140.
"In comparison to a lot of restaurant concepts, the runway for growth here is very, very substantial," McGuire said.