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
We have issued and outstanding two classes of capital stock, Class A stock and Class B stock. Holders of Class B stock may convert such stock into Class A stock on a share-for-share basis. Holders of Class B stock are entitled to 10 votes per share and holders of Class A stock are entitled to one vote per share on matters submitted to shareholders for approval. As of October 29, 2016, there were approximately 23,000 holders of record of our Class A stock and six holders of record of our Class B stock.
DIVIDENDS
Cash dividends cannot be paid to holders of Class B stock unless they are simultaneously paid to holders of Class A stock. The per share amount of the cash dividend paid to holders of Class B stock cannot exceed 90% of the cash dividend simultaneously paid to holders of Class A stock. We have paid uninterrupted quarterly dividends on common stock each year since 1977. In fiscal 2016, the annual dividend rate for Class A stock was $0.60 per share and the annual dividend rate for Class B stock was $0.54 per share. In fiscal 2015, the annual dividend rate for Class A stock was $0.40 per share and the annual dividend rate for Class B stock was $0.36 per share. On November 17, 2016, the Board of Directors increased the dividend previously declared on August 4, 2016, to $0.225 per share on our Class A stock and $0.2025 per share on our Class B stock. The increased quarterly dividend is payable on December 15, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1, 2016. Also on November 17, 2016, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share on our Class A stock and $0.2025 per share on our Class B stock, payable on March 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2017. We anticipate the remaining quarterly dividends in fiscal 2017 will be $0.225 and $0.2025 per share of our Class A and Class B stock, respectively. We also continue to anticipate our annual dividends to increase approximately $0.10 per year.
MARKET INFORMATION
Our Class A stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TSN.” No public trading market currently exists for our Class B stock. The high and low sales prices of our Class A stock for each quarter of fiscal 2016 and 2015 are represented in the table below.
| 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| High | Low | High | Low | ||||||||||||
| First Quarter | $ | 54.42 | $ | 42.89 | $ | 43.37 | $ | 37.02 | |||||||
| Second Quarter | 68.17 | 48.52 | 42.41 | 37.10 | |||||||||||
| Third Quarter | 70.44 | 59.45 | 45.10 | 37.24 | |||||||||||
| Fourth Quarter | 77.05 | 65.83 | 44.78 | 39.05 |
ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
The table below provides information regarding our purchases of Class A stock during the periods indicated.
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1) | |||||||
| Jul. 3, 2016 to Jul. 30, 2016 | 4,706,269 | $ | 70.20 | 4,598,556 | 44,488,878 | ||||||
| Jul. 31, 2016 to Sept. 3, 2016 | 2,643,859 | 74.69 | 2,543,335 | 41,945,543 | |||||||
| Sept. 4, 2016 to Oct. 1, 2016 | 1,652,309 | 74.61 | 1,605,689 | 40,339,854 | |||||||
| Total | 9,002,437 | (2) | $ | 72.33 | 8,747,580 | (3) | 40,339,854 |
| (1) | On February 7, 2003, we announced our Board of Directors approved a program to repurchase up to 25 million shares of Class A common stock from time to time in open market or privately negotiated transactions. On May 3, 2012, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 35 million shares, on January 30, 2014, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 25 million shares and, on February 4, 2016, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 50 million shares under the program. The program has no fixed or scheduled termination date. |
| (2) | We purchased 254,857 shares during the period that were not made pursuant to our previously announced stock repurchase program, but were purchased to fund certain Company obligations under our equity compensation plans. These transactions included 244,498 shares purchased in open market transactions and 10,359 shares withheld to cover required tax withholdings on the vesting of restricted stock. |
| (3) | These shares were purchased during the period pursuant to our previously announced stock repurchase program. |
PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for our Class A stock, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index and a group of peer companies described below.

| Fiscal Years Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base Period 10/1/11 | 9/29/12 | 9/28/13 | 9/27/14 | 10/3/15 | 10/1/16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | $ | 100.00 | $ | 93.09 | $ | 168.50 | $ | 224.16 | $ | 266.17 | $ | 452.03 | |||||||||||
| S&P 500 Index | 100.00 | 130.20 | 155.39 | 186.05 | 184.91 | 213.44 | |||||||||||||||||
| Peer Group | 100.00 | 117.85 | 143.56 | 165.74 | 182.04 | 205.49 |
The total cumulative return on investment (change in the year-end stock price plus reinvested dividends), which is based on the stock price or composite index at the end of fiscal 2011, is presented for each of the periods for the Company, the S&P 500 Index, and our peer group. The peer group includes: Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Bunge Limited, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra Foods, Inc., Dean Foods Company, General Mills, Inc., Hormel Foods Corp., Kellogg Co., McCormick & Co., Mondelez International Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, Sanderson Farms, Inc., The Hershey Company, and The J.M. Smucker Company. The graph compares the performance of the Company's Class A common stock with that of the S&P 500 Index and peer group, with the return of each company in the peer group weighted on market capitalization. The stock price performance of the Company's Class A common stock shown in the above graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
The information in this "Performance Graph" section shall not be deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the Securities and Exchange Commission or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
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