BAT Cancels Newly Repurchased Shares as Buyback Programme Advances

An update from British American Tobacco ( (GB:BATS) ) is now available.

British American Tobacco has continued its share buyback programme, repurchasing 165,202 ordinary shares on 16 April 2026 from Banco Santander at a volume-weighted average price of 4,176.6984 pence. The company intends to cancel these shares, reducing the number of ordinary shares in issue to about 2.17 billion, while holding roughly 133 million shares in treasury.

The move marginally shrinks BAT’s free float and can enhance earnings per share, underlining management’s commitment to returning capital to investors despite regulatory and market pressures on the tobacco sector. The updated share count also informs investors’ disclosure obligations under UK transparency rules, as it alters the base used to calculate voting rights and notifiable ownership thresholds.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:BATS) stock is a Buy with a £52.00 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 across multiple markets. The company focuses on traditional combustible brands while also investing in alternative nicotine offerings to defend and grow its share in the highly regulated tobacco industry.

Average Trading Volume: 4,565,292

Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy

Current Market Cap: £90.92B

See more data about BATS stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.