Broker tips: Vodafone, AMEC, Johnson Matthey

UBS has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation for telecoms firm Vodafone in spite of some disappointing second-quarter trends in Europe, as it remains upbeat about the Verizon Wireless (VZW) contribution to the group."Again cuts to European forecasts are offset by a rise in the associate contribution of VZW. Including the US, VOD top line and cash flow grow. The VZW dividend is significant in our view, we believe that payments may now come more often and prove larger than expected; VZW has shown it will pay out excess cash"."[...] We keep income dividend forecasts, but see a positive scenario where dividends could prove more frequent and larger than consensus forecasts."Investec still recommends to 'buy' shares in engineering consultancy AMEC despite some headwinds this year, after the company's third-quarter trading statement confirmed that growth is continuing in line with expectations.However, the broker said: "The stock currently trades on a sector average rating (11 times FY13E earnings) and c4% forecast dividend yield, but we see better EPS growth elsewhere in the sector."Credit Suisse has retained its 'neutral' rating for speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey, saying that while the outlook is negative, it is already priced in.Credit Suisse said: "We believe today's share price could represent an attractive entry point for long-term investors, who are not risk averse. However we see macro weakness holding back performance over the next year."BC