Rickey Ward, New Zealand equities manager at JBWere, said the reporting issues were now behind the company.
The firm agreed in September to be censured by the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal and pay $100,000 to the NZX's Discipline Fund over the late filing of earnings reports.
"The company continues to generate solid free cash flow, has no debt, and benefits in translational terms from a weaker New Zealand dollar," Ward said. "While further acquisitions cannot be ruled out, nor can other capital initiatives which promote a higher company value."
OMF senior client adviser Daniel Metcalfe said Diligent's reporting problems had been a bad look, particularly for a company in the business of corporate governance.
However, the firm was showing solid underlying earnings growth and winning customers, Metcalfe said.
In November Diligent lifted its full-year revenue guidance to between US$82.5 million ($106.6 million) and US$83 million, which would be an up to 28 per cent increase on the previous year. Net income for the nine months to September 30 rose more than 30 per cent to US$6.9 million from US$5.3 million in the same period of 2013.
Metcalfe said Diligent had strong prospects for growing market share in Europe. "They've got a good hold in America," he said. "Europe is now the area that they can seek to expand in quite aggressively."
Global logistics operator Mainfreight, medical device manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, infrastructure investor Infratil and Auckland Airport were also popular choices among brokers.
F&P Healthcare had a strong run in 2014, with its shares gaining 61.6 per cent on the back of record financial results to close at $6.22.
OMF and Craigs Investment Partners are picking the stock to push higher in 2015.
"F&P Healthcare has had a stellar run over the last two years, but this has been driven by genuine operational progress, highlighted by several consecutive profit upgrades," said Craigs Investment Partners head of private wealth research Mark Lister.
"We think the company is very well-positioned, has growth options and earnings momentum on its side, and is a beneficiary of any further weakness in the New Zealand dollar against the US dollar."
The kiwi fell to a two-and-a-half year low of US76.21c against the greenback this month and was trading at US77.24c on Wednesday - down 12.4 per cent since hitting a high of US88.22c in July.
Metcalfe said shares in F&P Healthcare - which derives roughly half of its revenue in US dollars and last month reported a 10 per cent lift in half-year profit to a record $48.9 million - could be trading at $7 by the end of 2015.
"I think the [weaker] currency is going to be a huge part of that."
Lister noted that Mainfreight, like F&P Healthcare, was a company whose share price had risen sharply this year. Its shares gained 33.7 per cent over 2014 to close at $16.
"It was tempting not to pick [Mainfreight] again having already had such a strong run," he said. "However, we still think it is a great business that is leveraged to a robust domestic economy, lower fuel prices, international growth opportunities and potentially some currency weakness."
Stephen Hudson, head of research at Macquarie Securities New Zealand, said Auckland Airport's passenger growth was robust and in a low interest rate environment the stock was expected to outperform the market.
Telecommunications provider Spark saw strong share price gains over 2014, rising 34.5 per cent to close at $3.10 on Wednesday. Surprisingly, none of the brokers included the company in their 2015 picks.
Disclaimer
• Results are skewed by some features. The figures exclude brokers' fees. Brokers are asked to choose the securities that will give the best short-term performance. If they had been asked to choose, for example, a five-year term, the results might be different. The survey does not allow brokers to review choices during the year. The survey implies a one-size-fits-all approach. It takes no account of individual circumstances such as an investor's appetite for risk, need for income or tax circumstances. The views expressed do not constitute personalised financial advice and are not directed at any person. Finally, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
