** Shares of department store operator The Kroger Co up 1.05% in premarket trade
** Wells Fargo upgrades stock to 'overweight' from 'equal weight,' cites improving fundamentals and "potential for a huge buyback"
** Its new rating is an equivalent to 'buy' as per LSEG data, in-line with the recommendation of 10 of 23 analysts covering the stock
** Brokerage sees "a bottoming of disinflation in Q1 with potential for better 2H pricing"
** Investors have not given much credit to KR's alternate value business which generated $1.3 bln in profit in FY23 and includes personal finance, media, data, and ventures- brokerage
** Brokerage raises PT to $65 from $58, an upside of 17.4% to stock's last close
** KR has risen 18.6% in past 12 months
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)
((Ananta.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))
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