Leon Cooperman Might Be Up 60% On Resource America

During last Thursday's holiday-shortened trading session, Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors made what now appears to be quite a convicted call: a long in asset manager Resource America Inc REXI.

The mid-day 13D filing from December 24 showed Cooperman purchased just shy of 2.7 million shares of Resource America, or about a 12.7 percent stake. The filing included a passage which disclosed Cooper has been engaged in discussions with management and may continue to do so.

Immediately following the filing of the SEC document, buyers stepped in and shares of Resource America closed up nearly 28 percent. Over the two trading sessions since the release, shares have continued higher, tacking on 12 percent on Monday and another 17 percent Tuesday.

Shares of Resource America are now up more than 60 percent since Cooperman disclosed his long position.

Volume was most notable on the day of the SEC filing, however, higher-than-normal volume has volume on each of the two days since December 24. More than 520,000 shares have exchanged hands in Tuesday's session, compared to the stock's average daily volume of just 130,000 shares.