BAT Cancels New Share Buyback Tranche, Trimming Share Count

British American Tobacco ( (GB:BATS) ) has shared an announcement.

British American Tobacco has repurchased 157,969 of its 25p ordinary shares on 10 April 2026 from Banco Santander under its ongoing buyback programme, paying a volume-weighted average price of 4,367.9449p per share. The company plans to cancel the shares, reducing the number of ordinary shares in issue with voting rights to about 2.17 billion, a move that marginally increases existing shareholders’ ownership stakes and signals continued emphasis on shareholder returns.

Following this transaction, BAT will also retain around 132.7 million shares in treasury, which do not carry voting rights and can be used for future corporate purposes. The updated capital structure data enables investors to reassess their notifiable holdings under UK disclosure rules, underlining the buyback’s role in fine-tuning the group’s equity base and supporting capital management objectives.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:BATS) stock is a Hold with a £41.50 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on British American Tobacco stock, see the GB:BATS Stock Forecast page.

Spark’s Take on BATS Stock

According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, BATS is a Outperform.

The score is driven primarily by solid-but-not-clean financial performance (profitability strength offset by leverage and a notable 2025 cash-flow decline). Valuation is supportive due to the high dividend yield and moderate P/E, while technicals are broadly neutral. Earnings-call guidance and capital-return plans help, but are tempered by vapor/illicit pressures and regional weakness.

To see Spark’s full report on BATS stock, click here.

More about British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco group listed in London, producing and selling cigarettes and other nicotine products. The company operates large-scale share repurchase programmes as part of its capital allocation strategy, returning cash to investors while actively managing its share count and capital structure.

Average Trading Volume: 4,496,307

Technical Sentiment Signal: Strong Buy

Current Market Cap: £94.23B

See more insights into BATS stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.