Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Information regarding the principal market for our ordinary shares and related shareholder matters is as follows:

Our ordinary shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol ALLE. As of February 14, 2019, the number of record holders of ordinary shares was 2,648. Information regarding equity compensation plans required to be disclosed pursuant to this Item is incorporated by reference from our Proxy Statement.

Dividend Policy

Our Board of Directors declared dividends of $0.21 per ordinary share on February 8, 2018, April 5, 2018, September 6, 2018 and December 6, 2018. On February 5, 2019, our Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.27 per ordinary share payable March 29, 2019. We paid a total of $79.4 million in cash for dividends to ordinary shareholders during the year ended December 31, 2018. Future dividends on our ordinary shares, if any, will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements and surplus, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that the Board of Directors may deem relevant, as well as our ability to pay dividends in compliance with the Irish Companies Act. Under the Irish Companies Act, dividends and distributions may only be made from distributable reserves. Distributable reserves, broadly, means the accumulated realized profits of Allegion plc (ALLE-Ireland). In addition, no distribution or dividend may be made unless the net assets of ALLE-Ireland are equal to, or in excess of, the aggregate of ALLE-Ireland’s called up share capital plus undistributable reserves and the distribution does not reduce ALLE-Ireland’s net assets below such aggregate.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In February 2017, our Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase authorization of up to $500 million of the Company's ordinary shares ("2017 Share Repurchase Authorization"). The 2017 Share Repurchase Authorization does not have a prescribed expiration date. We paid a total of $67.3 million to repurchase 0.9 million ordinary shares during the year ended December 31, 2018 and $60.0 million to repurchase 0.8 million ordinary shares during the year ended December 31, 2017. At December 31, 2018, we have approximately $372.7 million available under the 2017 Share Repurchase Authorization.

Performance Graph

The annual changes for the period shown December 1, 2013 (when our ordinary shares began trading) to December 31, 2018 in the graph on this page are based on the assumption that $100 had been invested in Allegion plc ordinary shares, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index ("S&P 500") and the Standard & Poor's 400 Capital Goods Index ("S&P 400 Capital Goods") on December 1, 2013, and that all quarterly dividends were reinvested. The total cumulative dollar returns shown on the graph represent the value that such investments would have had on December 31, 2018.