** Northland Securities upgrades digital bank and fintech firm Green Dot GDOT.N to "outperform" from "market perform"
** Says GDOT has been talking about a turnaround for several years which hasn't materialized and it believes the bank is serious about a sale
** GDOT last month announced it had hired Citigroup C.N to explore potential strategic alternatives
** Brokerage says GDOT could be worth more than its current market cap in a sale, with the bank's various businesses likely to attract significant value, especially when broken apart
** Expects GDOT's tax and payroll card businesses as well its Utah banking charter to attract interest
** One of 5 brokerages rate the stock "buy", 3 "hold" and 1 "sell"; median PT $11 - data compiled by LSEG
** As of last close, GDOT stock down 37% YTD
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))