Broker tips: Vodafone, Babcock, British Land

14th May 2013 11:02

Nomura has kept its 'neutral' rating and 195p target price for telecoms giant Vodafone after the announcement of a 2.1bn-pound dividend payment from its stake in Verizon Wireless (VZW).The broker said that Verizon's Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam has gone back on his comments last week in which he warned that it could be a "lean" year for the VZW dividend. "As such, its tactical purpose is to highlight the less-than-satisfactory arrangement from a Vodafone perspective, which will put more pressure on Vodafone to consider a disposal of its 45% VZW stake, in our view."Panmure Gordon has reiterated its 'hold' rating for engineering support services giant Babcock, but has said that there is scope for forecast upgrades after the group's better-than-expected full-year results."This premium [rating to the sector] is justified given its above average growth profile and medium-term visibility. The market should take these results well this morning but we maintain a neutral stance for now given the premium rating," analysts said.Investec has moved its long-standing 'buy' rating for real estate giant British Land to 'reduce' after a "boringly in-line" full-year result on Tuesday. The broker has maintained its 600p target price for the stock."Preliminary results to end-March show anaemic growth in both earnings and overall capital values - albeit with offices outperforming a declining retail portfolio - and with the effect of February's marginally dilutive equity placing, there is little advancement from one year ago," said analyst Alan Carter.BC