Broker tips: RBS, Vodafone, Supermarkets

Investec has upped its recommendation for part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland from 'sell' to 'hold', saying that the stock is 'marginally oversold' after the steep sell-off over recent sessions."Given increased political disarray, despite deep 'valuation support', we do acknowledge the potential for further near-term weakness," the broker said. However, more fundamental investors should place "reliance on the fact that the Chancellor must surely see the folly (and cost) of a 'good bank'/'bad bank' split. "As such, based on a broadly unchanged outlook, we now see modest value."Jefferies has retained its 'hold' rating and 179p target price for telecoms titan Vodafone (VOD) after its €87-a-share offer for Kabel Deutschland (KDG) on Monday morning.While VOD has identified "credible costs synergies" - savings of €300m per annum - Jefferies says that revenue synergies (cross-selling and improved customer loyalty) is not without execution risk. Meanwhile, Jefferies said that VOD could still be forced to make a higher bid if Liberty Global counters with another offer.Citigroup has cut its ratings for supermarket peers Sainsbury and Morrison as part of its reviewed stance on the European food retail sector.While Morrsion remains the broker's sector preference in UK food retail, its rating has been downgraded from 'buy' to 'neutral'. Citi said that its greatest concern is management's "direction of travel". Sainsbury meanwhile has been cut from 'neutral' to 'sell'. Tesco is already rated a 'sell'.