UPDATE: Citigroup Initiates Buffalo Wild Wings at Neutral on Near-Term Trends

Citigroup initiated coverage on Buffalo Wild Wings

with a Neutral rating and a $75 price target. Citigroup noted, "The company has been experiencing soft near-term trends, with a slowdown in Oct SSS relative to 3Q as well as implied negative traffic trends (vs. MSD growth YTD 3Q). Our channel checks indicate November SSS trending at a similar or slightly slower rate than the October trend. Given some investors may expect trends to improve from weakened October trends (although BWLD shares declined after posting 3Q12 results, they are still up about 8% since the beginning of the year vs. down 9% for the peer group; shares also currently trade at 21x forward EPS), these results could be viewed somewhat negatively if the trend continues throughout the quarter and into January." Buffalo Wild Wings closed at $72.73 on Wednesday.