Citadel Advisors Purchases 5.5% Stake in Express

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Citadel Advisors LLC and its subsidiary companies acquired a 5.5 percent stake or 4,799,072 shares in Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR), a specialty apparel and accessories retailer, based on its latest 13G filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 18.

Citadel Advisors Purchases 5.5% Stake in Express

Last week, Express raised its fourth quarter and full-year guidance due to better-than-expected sales during the holiday season. The company expected its comparable sales to increase by 1 percent instead of breaking even, and to deliver a net income between $61 million to $63 million or $0.72 to $0.73 earnings per share. The specialty apparel and accessories retailer’s previous estimate was around $53 million to $58 million net income or $0.62 to $0.68 EPS.  Express expected to report a net income of $136 million to $138 million or $1.47 to $1.53 earnings per share for the total year.

According to Express CEO, Michael Weiss, the promotional strategy and the introduction of opening price points in key categories boosted the comparable sales of the company since the third quarter last year. He also cited that its e-commerce continued to grow as percentage of the company’s business.

Shares of Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) are up by nearly 3 percent to $18.30 per share in Thursday’s late afternoon trading.

Some of the major shareholders of Express include FMR LLC (10.5%), Vanguard Group (5.38%), Jennison Associates (4.43%), Lord Abbet & Co. (4.29%), and Wellington Management and Company (4.14%).

Last December, Citadel Advisors boosted its stake in Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) to 6.06 percent or 5,502,059 share. The investment management firm also increased its holdings in Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE:FCS) to 4.6 percent or 5,822,624 shares, and purchased a 5.5 percent stake or 1,243,810 shares of The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV). Furthermore, Citadel Advisors boosted its position in Halcon Resources Corp (NYSE:HK) to 5.2 percent or 11,238,005 shares.

Kenneth Griffin is the portfolio manager of Citadel Advisors. As of September 30, 2012, Citadel Advisors’ top holdings include Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC), and Dicks Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS).

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