LONDON, July 4, 2026, 20:04 BST
- Legal & General closed Friday at 292.10p, adding 0.24% on the day and posting a 1.81% rise for the week, topping the FTSE 100’s 1.63% weekly move.
- Legal & General Group’s buyback table puts share repurchases at 157.5 million, with £408.5 million spent and an average price of 257.44p.
- At the close Friday, the buyback cash left would cover roughly 271 million shares, which is about 36.5 million below the average number bought at past prices, based on company figures and market data done Reuters-style.
With London markets closed Saturday, the most recent price is Friday’s close. Legal & General Group Plc LON:LGEN finished at 292.10p, up 0.24%. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.25% to 10,679.03, banking a weekly gain as financials supported the index.
The buyback numbers give a clearer read for investors. L&G has spent 34.0% of its £1.2 billion share repurchase plan, according to the latest table. Shares now sit 13.5% above the programme’s average purchase price. The stock’s move makes the initial buybacks look cheap, but any new buys will cost more and have less impact.
| L&G buyback metric | Latest reported / calculated figure |
|---|---|
| Programme size | £1.20 bln |
| Spent so far | £408.5 mln |
| Programme spent | 34.0% |
| Shares bought | 157.5 mln |
| Average price paid | 257.44p |
| Friday close | 292.10p |
| Premium of Friday close to average buyback price | 13.5% |
| Cash left under programme | £791.5 mln |
| Shares left to buy at Friday close | 271.0 mln |
So far 157.5 million shares have been repurchased, which is 2.84% of the 5.541 billion ordinary shares now in issue after the latest cancellation. If the rest of the £791.5 million in the buyback is used at Friday’s close, the programme would take out about 7.7% of that share count. At the average price paid so far, it would mean removing about 8.4%. The gap—36.5 million shares—equals around 0.66% of the current share base.
L&G’s weekly gain wasn’t the top among London insurers. Aviva Plc LON:AV added 3.31% in the period, with Prudential Plc (LON:PRU) up 1.89%. L&G still came out ahead of the FTSE 100 by 18 basis points and the FTSE 250 by 12 basis points, comparing Friday’s close to June 26.
| Stock / index | Friday close | Friday move | Week move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal & General LON:LGEN | 292.10p | up 0.24% | rose 1.81% |
| Aviva LON:AV | 668.40p | gained 0.60% | added 3.31% |
| Prudential (LON:PRU) | 1,025.50p | fell 0.15% | was up 1.89% |
| FTSE 100 | 10,679.03 | moved 0.25% higher | up 1.63% |
| FTSE 250 | 23,538.80 | rose 0.52% | up 1.69% |
Weekly change is based on closing price from June 26.
The stock still looks like an income play. L&G set a 2025 dividend at 21.79p per share, up 2%. Consensus collected by the company in March had analysts looking for 22.22p in 2026. Priced at 292.10p, those dividend numbers put the yield for 2025 around 7.5%, with 2026 seen at roughly 7.6%.
The yield puts focus on the buyback price. L&G’s story depends as much on cash payouts as on profit gains. Back in March, the company said 2025 core operating profit was up 6% to £1.62 billion, with core operating EPS up 9%. Pro forma Solvency II coverage hit 210%. L&G also posted £11.8 billion in global pension risk transfer volumes and £1.2 trillion in asset management AUM.
CEO António Simões told Reuters in March, “In two years, we’ve reshaped the company,” adding that L&G was “very comfortable” with its solvency ratio even after shares fell on results day. The stock has moved back toward AJ Bell’s year high of 302.30p. That squeezes scope for buyback accretion if the company keeps buying at these higher levels. Reuters
L&G’s next scheduled update isn’t coming this week. Its financial calendar lists half-year results for 0700 BST on Aug. 5. Ex-dividend falls on Aug. 20, with a record date on Aug. 21, and payment set for Sept. 25. The next weekly buyback disclosure will show purchases made since June 23-26, when shares mostly traded between 284p and 288p.
