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British American Tobacco ( (GB:BATS) ) just unveiled an announcement.
British American Tobacco has repurchased 123,647 of its ordinary shares from Banco Santander as part of an ongoing share buyback programme authorised by shareholders and originally announced in March 2024. The company plans to cancel these shares, reducing the number of ordinary shares in issue with voting rights to about 2.17 billion and leaving nearly 133 million shares held in treasury, a move that marginally concentrates existing shareholders’ stakes and may support capital return metrics.
The transactions, executed on 13 March 2026 on the London Stock Exchange at prices between 4,413p and 4,530p per share, reflect the group’s continued use of excess cash to repurchase equity. The updated share count also provides a new reference point for investors assessing disclosure thresholds under UK transparency rules and monitoring the scale and progress of BAT’s long-running buyback strategy.
The most recent analyst rating on (GB:BATS) stock is a Buy with a £49.00 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 is a global tobacco group and one of the world’s largest cigarette and nicotine-product manufacturers. The company focuses on traditional combustible tobacco brands while also investing in next-generation products, and its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Average Trading Volume: 4,567,080
Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy
Current Market Cap: £97.95B
Learn more about BATS stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.