LONDON, June 26, 2026, 15:01 BST
- Reckitt shares gained around 2% in London afternoon trading. The FTSE 100 was softer.
- The stock hovered just over the average price Reckitt paid during its last buyback tranche.
- July 29 is now key for the next buyback plan and the 2026 margin story.
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (LON:RKT) was up 2.0% at 4,924p at 14:50 BST Friday. Volume came in at 413,320 shares, well below Google Finance’s average of 1.87 million. Shares touched 4,940p earlier in the session. The 52-week range is 3,664p to 6,514p.
FTSE 100 drops 0.99% at 14:28 BST; Reckitt stands out as a defensive play in a weaker London market. Friday trading was regular on the London Stock Exchange, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST.
Reckitt is now trading just above the point where it last bought its own shares. The stock sits at 4,924p, up 1.4% from the £48.55 average that Reckitt paid in the last leg of its £1 billion buyback, which ran from March 9 to June 15 and saw 11.12 million shares repurchased. Reckitt called the programme finished, saying any new buyback news will wait for half-year results on July 29.
Reckitt finished a £1 billion buyback, which was about 3.2% of its £31.32 billion market cap, according to delayed AJ Bell data. Reckitt showed a 4.66% dividend yield and a price/earnings ratio at 9.46.
Valuation gap persists. MarketScreener lists 19 analysts on Reckitt, giving an average target price of £61.82 and a low of £51.79. Shares closed Friday at 4,924p. That’s about 26% above current price for the average target, and still 5% above for the lowest.
Reckitt reported Thursday that non-execs Deepak Nath, Harry Kirsch and Pat Verduin picked up a total of 987 shares back on June 23, spending around £45,689 at prices from £46.18 to £46.51. The stock on Friday traded about 6% over what they paid.
Reckitt shares have yet to fill the bigger gap as its operating record stays uneven. The company missed first-quarter like-for-like revenue estimates in April, warned that first-half margins would land about 200 basis points under last year, and shares slid up to 7%. Harsharan Mann at Aviva Investors called the growth “broad-based muted growth.” JPMorgan’s Celine Pannuti flagged the second-quarter emerging-market outlook as raising questions about annual goals. Reuters
Reckitt painted a more positive picture, but stopped short of calling it strong. CEO Kris Licht said Core Reckitt saw 1.3% like-for-like net revenue growth in the first quarter, though “very low seasonal incidence,” weak European categories, and geopolitical factors weighed. The company held on to its 2026 like-for-like revenue target due to China, India and steady non-seasonal sales in North America. Reckitt
The margin debate was already brewing before the April update. In March, after Reckitt’s full-year report, CEO Licht told Reuters emerging markets are a “must-win set of markets.” But Chris Beckett at Quilter Cheviot said the margin gains from selling Essential Home were getting hit by “stranded costs and FX.” Reuters
Reckitt will post its 2026 half-year results and hold a presentation on Wednesday, July 29, starting at 08:30 BST. The company has the event listed on its site.
