Pets, Babies Make for Solid IPOs

Three of the four initial public offerings that priced Wednesday were trading higher, including an online retailer of baby products and a distributor of veterinary goods, but property and casualty insurance provider Republic Companies (RUTX Quote) was struggling to build any momentum.

Republic sold an initial 6 million shares at $14 each, below the expected price range of $15 to $17. The Dallas-based company's shares have traded in a range of $13.75 to $14.20 on their first day, but lately were unchanged from the offer price.

J.P. Morgan, Banc of America, Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Sandler O'Neill were listed as the underwriters.

The winner of the day so far has been MWI Veterinary Supply (MWIV Quote), a distributor of animal health products to veterinarians, that was up more than 21%. The Meridian, Idaho, company priced 4.33 million shares at $17 each in a deal underwritten by Banc of America, William Blair & Co. and Piper Jaffray.

Shares of MWI opened north of $20 and were recently at $20.65, up $3.65 from the IPO price.

BabyUniverse (BUN Quote), an Internet seller of brand-name baby, toddler and maternity products, found buyers on its first day, adding more than 11%. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company sold 2 million shares at $9.50 each, and the stock last changed hands at $10.98.

GunnAllen Financial and Wedbush Morgan Securities were the co-lead managers of the offering.

Meanwhile, Unica (UNCA Quote), a seller of enterprise marketing management software, priced its IPO of 4.8 million shares at $10 each. Of the total, the Waltham, Mass., company sold 3.75 million shares.

Traders saw more value in the name, bidding the stock up $1.60, or 16%, to $11.60 on Unica's opening day. The underwriters of the offering were Deutsche Bank Securities, Wachovia Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets and Needham.