Weir Group Shares: Buy or Hold?

Weir Group (LON: WEIR) shares have faced conflicting analyst calls in recent days, leaving investors to weigh the outlook for the FTSE 100 engineering firm. 

The stock, which has risen over 10% so far this year, was upgraded to “Buy” by UBS last week, while Morgan Stanley has just moved to a more cautious stance.

UBS raised its price target for the stock from 2,250p to 2,850p, citing strong potential upside from Weir’s ongoing Performance Excellence programme. 

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The bank explained that the plan, launched in 2022 with an initial savings target of £30 million, has since seen its guidance lifted twice, most recently to £80 million. 

UBS analysts believe the company could ultimately deliver £125 million in savings by 2026, lifting adjusted EBITA margins to 23.4%, well ahead of the 20.4% consensus. 

“We think the market is currently pricing in £80m of cost savings,” UBS stated.

However, Morgan Stanley has taken a more cautious view, downgrading Weir to “Equal Weight” from “Overweight” with a new price target of 2,570p. 

The bank acknowledged that Weir’s exposure to mining aftermarket services makes it relatively insulated from recent tariff-related uncertainties, but argued that a lack of near-term catalysts limits upside.

According to data compiled by TradingView, 17 analysts are covering the stock, with 13 seeing it as a “Buy” and four as a “Hold.” 

Weir Group shares are currently trading around 2,406p, but the analyst consensus target is 2,582p, suggesting potential upside.