Stocks Trending Upwards Today ~ ITT Educational Services Inc. (ESI), Atmel Corporation (ATML), Encana Corporation (ECA)

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML) has announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Steven Laub, agreed to a request from the company’s Board of Directors to extend his retirement date in order to accelerate the completion of an ongoing strategic evaluation process. Therefore it’s quite clear that the shares of the microcontroller maker are gaining ground due to a potential acquisition. The stock is up by 15.40% thus far in today’s trading session, but is still down by more than 9% year-to-date. Earlier this year, Atmel announced that CEO Laub had decided to retire as an officer and director, effective August 31, which could have hindered the company’s ongoing evaluation process. However, the recent news assures the market that Atmel is set to finalize a potential deal soon enough. Soros Fund Management, founded and overseen by billionaire George Soros, boosted its stake in Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML) during the latest quarter to 5.17 million shares.

Last but not least, Encana Corporation (NYSE:ECA), a Calgary-based oil and gas company, is 7.70% in the green today. Today, Encana Corporation announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its Haynesville natural gas assets in northern Louisiana for $850 million to GEP Haynesville, which is a joint venture between GeoSouthern Haynesville LP and funds managed by GSO Capital Partners LP. Reportedly, the company is set to use the capital raised from the deal to reduce its net debt so as to strengthen its balance sheet. The recent slump in oil prices have put heavy downward pressure on oil companies, and many of them have reduced capital spending plans and made other moves in order to improve their weak balance sheets. Under the terms of the recently-announced deal, Encana will also transport and market the acquirer’s production on a fee-for-service basis for the next five years. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management significantly uplifted their stakes in Encana Corporation (NYSE:ECA) in the second quarter, amassing positions of 14.44 million shares and 6.70 million shares, respectively.

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