Shares in Countrywide Financial Corp. surged nearly 7 percent early Friday after SRM Global Fund said it had raised its stake in Countrywide to 8.1 percent, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Cayman Islands-based investment fund reported that it now owns 47.2 million shares up from 30 million shares.

SRM has been critical of the troubled lender’s pending deal to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. It has said the Calabasas-based Countrywide failed to act in the best interest of shareholders by quickly approving the deal without considering an auction of assets or exploring other alternatives. In January, Bank of America agreed to pay $4.1 billion for the lender.

This comes a day after a Lehman Brothers analyst said that credit deterioration at Countrywide could raise concern among investors about the final sale price of the mortgage lender. Countrywide is scheduled to report earnings April 29.

Shares were up 6.6 percent to $5.65 in early trading Friday.