** Baird upgrades business payments firm Fleetcor Technologies to "outperform" from "neutral"; raises PT to $330 from $325, a 17.2% upside to the last close

** Brokerage says investor sentiment towards profitable fintechs has been improving

** Adds there is room to win small and medium-sized business SMB fleets, growth in B2B payments, Brazil tolling expansion and lodging network all likely growing 5% to 20% YoY

** Micro-SMB sales efforts are likely ramping as bad debt expense has come down through 2023, which may be a leading indicator to revenue reacceleration - brokerage

** FLT's valuation has plenty of room to ramp - Baird

** Fourteen of 19 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher and five "hold"; their median PT is $325 - LSEG data

** Stock rose 53.9% in 2023

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))