In its latest issue, Barron’s magazine said stock in Wells Fargo & Co. is undervalued and could climb as much as 15 percent over the next 12 months, Reuters reported. The business weekly said it looks as if the bank will evade most subprime troubles and, with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. raising its position to 9.4 percent, the stock is poised to rebound.

Wells Fargo’s share price, which closed at $29.69 last week, has dropped 22 percent from its 52-week high, trading at a multiple of 10 times estimated 2009 earnings, Barron’s said. And yet, it noted, the bank had a return on equity last year of 17.12 percent, the highest of the top five U.S. banks.

Barron’s said other bulls, such as Goldman Sachs managing director Lori Appelbaum, say Wells Fargo shares have an upside of as much as 15 percent over the next 12 months. Appelbaum noted the shares are trading at 11 times her 2008 earnings estimate. Barron’s also cited Morgan Stanley analyst Vivek Juneja as saying Wells Fargo is now in a position to make strategic acquisitions of weakened competitors.

“I think we’re going to see opportunities,” Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf told the weekly. He declined to be more specific. Wells Fargo Chairman Dick Kovacevich told Barron’s: “There will be short-term pain, (but) we will come out of this much stronger — as we always have.”