London, June 6, 2026, 20:11 BST
- National Grid closed at 1,217.5p on Friday, up 1.54%, while the FTSE 100 added 0.07%.
- The London Stock Exchange is shut for the weekend; regular trading hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00-16:30 BST.
- Last week brought annual-report filings and final-dividend scrip terms, putting cash returns and funding back in view.
National Grid plc ended the week ahead of the London market, rising 1.54% on Friday to 1,217.5p as the FTSE 100, the benchmark of London’s largest listed companies, edged up 0.07%. The move left the utility with a modest weekly gain while trading is paused for the weekend.
That matters now because the next print is Monday’s open, not another late-Friday trade. The stock has just moved through a week of shareholder paperwork: National Grid published its Annual Report and Accounts, Form 20-F and notice of its 2026 annual general meeting on June 3, followed by final-dividend scrip terms on June 4.
The Friday bounce repaired some of the prior week’s damage. From £11.96 on May 29 to 1,217.5p on June 5, the shares rose about 1.8%, while the FTSE 100 slipped roughly 0.4% over the same Friday-to-Friday span. The stock is still well below its March 2 52-week high of £14.29.
National Grid’s investment case remains simple but heavy: regulated networks, a dividend, and a very large capital programme. The company said in May it made record capital investment of £11.6 billion in the year to March 31, lifted underlying earnings per share to 78.0p and recommended a 32.14p final dividend, taking the annual payout to 48.49p. Underlying earnings per share, or EPS, is an adjusted profit-per-share measure used to strip out items management says can blur operating performance.
Chief Executive Zoë Yujnovich called the plan “the largest investment programme in our history” and said it was aimed at creating “long-term value for shareholders.” National Grid expects at least £70 billion of capital investment from 2026/27 to 2030/31 and has guided to 13%-15% growth in underlying EPS for 2026/27 from the 78.0p baseline.
The dividend detail is part of the week-ahead trade. National Grid set the scrip dividend reference price for the 2025/26 final dividend at 1,197.70p per ordinary share; a scrip dividend lets shareholders take new shares instead of cash. ADR holders have until June 15 to elect, ordinary shareholders until June 18, and the final dividend is due to be paid on July 23.
The company is not a pure power generator. It owns and operates the electricity transmission system in England and Wales and serves electricity and gas customers in the northeastern United States, making it more of a regulated network operator than a direct commodity-price bet.
Peers help frame the move. Morningstar said on June 3 that electricity-network names such as National Grid and SSE have benefited from expectations of stronger power demand tied to AI infrastructure, while United Utilities and National Grid were cited as top sector picks by Morningstar analyst Tancrede Fulop. Fulop said the market was overlooking “strong fundamentals” in both names, though under a higher-rate case National Grid’s valuation becomes “more balanced.” Morningstar
Political risk has not gone away. Justin Lannen, a manager on the Pacific Maple-Brown Abbott Global Infrastructure Fund, told Morningstar that nationalising utilities would be a “phenomenally expensive exercise” and a low-probability event, but one investors take seriously. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Aarin Chiekrie said calls for stronger public control were “not necessarily the same thing as nationalization.” Morningstar
Broker views are mixed rather than euphoric. Goldman Sachs analyst Ajay Patel kept a Neutral rating on National Grid on May 27 and set a target price of 1,377p, down slightly from 1,386p, according to MarketScreener.
But the downside case is funding and execution. National Grid’s net debt stood at £44.16 billion at year-end, up £2.79 billion, and the company itself links part of higher finance costs to funding its capital expenditure programme. Reuters reported in May that annual adjusted operating profit missed expectations after storm-linked repair costs in the U.S. business and timing under-recoveries, meaning a gap between revenue allowed by regulators and cash collected.
For Monday, the near test is whether buyers defend the 1,200p area after Friday’s move. The bigger one is slower: whether a £70 billion grid buildout can lift earnings and dividends without making the balance sheet the story.
