Broker tips: GlaxoSmithKline, Glencore Xstrata, Whitbread

Panmure Gordon has kept its positive stance on pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline, despite recent concerns over rising competition from generic versions of its Advair drug, recommending investors to 'buy' on weakness.The broker said that there are still a number of regulatory process steps and many years before any possible increased competition to Advair: "The market has taken a dim view of developments which provide a good entry level into the stock in our view."Jefferies has raised its target price for mining group Glencore Xstrata after the company increased the expected synergies target following its merger and scaled back spending guidance."Glencore remains one of our top picks, especially as we have recently become more positive on the outlook for the sector. We expect volume growth, opex cuts, capex cuts, asset disposals (including possibly $5bn for Las Bambas) and the cyclical resilience of its Marketing business to lead to strong dividend growth and support a premium equity valuation." JPMorgan Cazenove has downgraded its rating for cafe, hotel and leisure group Whitbread from 'overweight' to 'neutral', saying that the company is a long-term winner but fully valued for now.Whitbread has outperformed the UK market by 25% over the past year, outperforming the European leisure sector by 19%. As such, it now trades at 17 times estimated earnings for the year ending February 2014. "With short-term headwinds we believe the shares are now full valued and would wait for a better entry point," JPMorgan said.BC