diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 57009e8..d609303 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "alpha-engine-lib"
-version = "0.50.0"
+version = "0.51.0"
 description = "Shared utilities for the Alpha Engine modules: preflight, logging, ArcticDB, dates, decision capture, cost telemetry, Anthropic payload chokepoint, artifact freshness, RAG, agent schemas, SSM secrets, Telegram + SNS alerts, EC2 spot resilience, SSM log-capture, SSM dispatcher, Step-Functions execution-state projection, S3-conditional-PUT writer locks, and bounded-backoff HTTP retry. Full surface documented in README."
 readme = "README.md"
 # EC2 still runs Python 3.9 on the always-on micro instance (boto3 drops
diff --git a/src/alpha_engine_lib/__init__.py b/src/alpha_engine_lib/__init__.py
index 6400699..1438566 100644
--- a/src/alpha_engine_lib/__init__.py
+++ b/src/alpha_engine_lib/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """alpha-engine-lib — shared utilities for Alpha Engine modules."""
 
-__version__ = "0.50.0"
+__version__ = "0.51.0"
diff --git a/src/alpha_engine_lib/quant/factor_risk_xs.py b/src/alpha_engine_lib/quant/factor_risk_xs.py
index c9717d8..9913134 100644
--- a/src/alpha_engine_lib/quant/factor_risk_xs.py
+++ b/src/alpha_engine_lib/quant/factor_risk_xs.py
@@ -235,8 +235,15 @@ def estimate_factor_covariance(
         return pd.DataFrame(np.full((K, K), np.nan), index=cols, columns=cols)
 
     if shrinkage == "ledoit_wolf":
-        from sklearn.covariance import LedoitWolf
-        F = LedoitWolf().fit(clean.to_numpy()).covariance_
+        # Single shared Ledoit-Wolf estimator (LV1-AE.a, 2026-06-03). The numpy
+        # ``quant.factor_risk.ledoit_wolf_cov`` is numerically identical to
+        # sklearn's ``LedoitWolf`` (max abs diff ~1e-21, validated across
+        # n∈[35,1000]) — both center the data and estimate the same shrinkage
+        # intensity toward a scaled-identity target. Consolidating onto the numpy
+        # impl kills the duplicate reimplementation; sklearn stays a lazy import
+        # for OAS only.
+        from .factor_risk import ledoit_wolf_cov
+        F = ledoit_wolf_cov(clean.to_numpy(), shrinkage="ledoit_wolf")
     elif shrinkage == "oas":
         from sklearn.covariance import OAS
         F = OAS().fit(clean.to_numpy()).covariance_
diff --git a/tests/test_quant_factor_risk_xs.py b/tests/test_quant_factor_risk_xs.py
index 68fb4ac..a44d7f1 100644
--- a/tests/test_quant_factor_risk_xs.py
+++ b/tests/test_quant_factor_risk_xs.py
@@ -29,6 +29,18 @@
 )
 
 
+def test_ledoit_wolf_branch_uses_shared_numpy_impl():
+    """LV1-AE.a consolidation contract: estimate_factor_covariance's ledoit_wolf
+    path is the shared numpy quant.factor_risk.ledoit_wolf_cov (one LW impl)."""
+    from alpha_engine_lib.quant.factor_risk import ledoit_wolf_cov
+
+    rng = np.random.RandomState(0)
+    panel = pd.DataFrame(rng.normal(0, 0.01, (200, 4)), columns=["market", "MOM", "VAL", "QUAL"])
+    F = estimate_factor_covariance(panel, shrinkage="ledoit_wolf", min_obs=30)
+    expected = ledoit_wolf_cov(panel.to_numpy(), shrinkage="ledoit_wolf")
+    assert np.allclose(F.to_numpy(), expected, atol=1e-15)
+
+
 # ─── Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────