British American Tobacco Cancels 155,000 Shares in Ongoing Buyback

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

British American Tobacco has repurchased 155,252 of its 25‑pence ordinary shares from Banco Santander as part of the share buyback programme authorised by shareholders and announced in 2024. The company intends to cancel the shares, reducing the number of ordinary shares in issue with voting rights to about 2.17 billion while retaining roughly 133 million shares in treasury, a move that marginally shrinks the free float and can enhance earnings per share for remaining investors.

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 is one of the world’s largest tobacco groups, producing and selling cigarettes and other nicotine products across global markets. The London‑listed company targets both traditional combustible tobacco and newer categories, and is a constituent of major U.K. equity indices, making its capital allocation moves closely watched by investors.

Average Trading Volume: 4,396,654

Technical Sentiment Signal: Strong Buy

Current Market Cap: £95.48B

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