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Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

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Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our ordinary shares are listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol “PNR.” As of December 31, 2014, there were 21,273 shareholders of record.

The high, low and closing sales price for our ordinary shares and the dividends paid for each of the quarterly periods for 2014 and 2013 were as follows:

20142013
FirstSecondThirdFourthFirstSecondThirdFourth
High$83.37$81.04$73.36$69.37$54.20$60.14$66.49$77.97
Low71.2971.9662.9159.0949.3949.6757.3862.80
Close77.6672.7667.4166.4252.7557.6965.5277.67
Dividends paid0.250.250.300.300.230.230.250.25

Pentair has paid 156 consecutive quarterly dividends. The Board of Directors has approved a plan to increase the dividend for the remainder of 2015, which will mark the 39th consecutive year we have increased dividends.

Future dividends on our ordinary shares or reductions of share capital for distribution to shareholders, if any, must be approved by our board of directors for payment out of distributable reserves on our statutory balance sheet. We are not permitted to pay dividends out of share capital, which includes share premiums. Distributable reserves may be created through the earnings of the Irish parent company and through a reduction in share capital approved by the Irish High Court. Distributable reserves are not linked to a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) reported amount (e.g., retained earnings). On July 22, 2014, the Irish High Court approved Pentair plc's conversion of approximately $14.4 billion of share premium to distributable reserves. On July 29, 2014, following the approval of the Irish High Court, we made the required filing of Pentair plc's initial accounts with the Irish Companies Registration Office, which completed the process to allow us to pay future cash dividends and redeem and repurchase shares out of Pentair plc's "distributable reserves." As of December 31, 2014, our distributable reserve balance was $12.1 billion.

The timing, declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our ordinary shares will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition and results of operations, the capital requirements of our businesses, industry practice and any other relevant factors.

United Kingdom Tax Considerations

Although our jurisdiction of organization is Ireland, we manage our affairs so that we are centrally managed and controlled in the U.K. and therefore have our tax residency in the U.K.

As a result of its U.K. tax status, dividend distributions by Pentair plc to its shareholders are not subject to withholding tax, as the U.K. currently does not levy a withholding tax on dividend distributions.

See the discussion of “Dividends” under “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Financing Activities” in ITEM 7 of this annual report on Form 10-K for additional information required by this item.

Share Performance Graph

The following information under the caption “Share Performance Graph” in this ITEM 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such a filing.

The following graph sets forth the cumulative total shareholder return on our ordinary shares for the last five years, assuming the investment of $100 on December 31, 2009 and the reinvestment of all dividends since that date to December 31, 2014. The graph also contains for comparison purposes the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Industrials Index, assuming the same investment level and reinvestment of dividends.

By virtue of our market capitalization, we are a component of the S&P 500 Index. On the basis of our size and diversity of businesses, we believe the S&P 500 Industrials Index is an appropriate published industry index for comparison purposes.

Base Period December 2009INDEXED RETURNS Years ended December 31
Company / Index20102011201220132014
Pentair plc100115.62107.67162.46261.07226.71
S&P 500 Index100115.06117.49136.30180.44205.14
S&P 500 Industrials Index100126.73125.98145.32204.43224.51

Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information with respect to purchases we made of our ordinary shares during the fourth quarter of 2014:

(a)(b)(c)(d)
Total number of shares purchasedAverage price paid per shareTotal number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programsDollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs
September 28 – October 25, 20144,510,220$64.064,482,910$13,823,462
October 26 – November 22, 2014208,64466.48208,533104
November 23 – December 31, 20144,46362.78—1,000,000,104
Total4,723,3274,691,443
(a)The purchases in this column include 27,310 shares for the period September 28 – October 25, 2014, 111 shares for the period October 26 – November 22, 2014, and 4,463 shares for the period November 23 – December 31, 2014 deemed surrendered to us by participants in our 2012 Stock and Incentive Plan (the “2012 Plan”) and earlier stock incentive plans that are now outstanding under the 2012 Plan (collectively the “Plans”) to satisfy the exercise price or withholding of tax obligations related to the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted shares.
(b)The average price paid in this column includes shares repurchased as part of our publicly announced plans and shares deemed surrendered to us by participants in the Plans to satisfy the exercise price of stock options and withholding tax obligations due upon stock option exercises and vesting of restricted shares.
(c)The number of shares in this column represents the number of shares repurchased as part of our publicly announced plans to repurchase our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit of $3.2 billion.
(d)In December 2013, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit of $1.0 billion. There was no remaining availability under this authorization as of December 31, 2014. In December 2014, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit of $1.0 billion. This authorization expires on December 31, 2019 and is in addition to the 2013 share repurchase authorization.

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