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 28, 2017, there were approximately 20,000 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 2017, the annual dividend rate for Class A stock was $0.90 per share and the annual dividend rate for Class B stock was $0.81 per share. 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. On November 10, 2017, the Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend previously declared on August 10, 2017, to $0.30 per share on our Class A stock and $0.27 per share on our Class B stock. The increased quarterly dividend is payable on December 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1, 2017. Also on November 10, 2017, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on our Class A stock and $0.27 per share on our Class B stock, payable on March 15, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2018. We anticipate the remaining quarterly dividends in fiscal 2018 will be $0.30 and $0.27 per share of our Class A and Class B stock, respectively. This results in an annual dividend rate in fiscal 2018 of $1.20 for Class A shares and $1.08 for Class B shares, or a 33% increase compared to the fiscal 2017 annual dividend rate. We also continue to anticipate our annual dividends to increase approximately $0.10 per share 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 2017 and 2016 are represented in the table below.



	2017			2016
	High		Low	High		Low
First Quarter	$	75.33	55.72	$	54.42	$	42.89
Second Quarter	67.14		61.00	68.17		48.52
Third Quarter	66.87		57.20	70.44		59.45
Fourth Quarter	70.80		58.36	77.05		65.83

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. 2, 2017 to Jul. 29, 2017	69,962		$	61.36	—		27,821,995
Jul. 30, 2017 to Sept. 2, 2017	82,328		64.40		—		27,821,995
Sept. 3, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2017	42,451		65.57		—		27,821,995
Total	194,741	(2)	$	63.56	—	(3)	27,821,995


(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.

(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 194,741 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 178,162 shares purchased in open market transactions and 16,579 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 our previous peer group and our current peer group of companies described below.



	Fiscal Years Ended
	9/29/12		9/28/13		9/27/14		10/3/15		10/1/16		9/30/17
Tyson Foods, Inc.	$	100.00	$	181.00	$	240.79	$	285.92	$	485.58	$	465.00
S&P 500 Index	100.00		119.34		142.89		154.00		160.94		194.44
Previous Peer Group	100.00		121.82		140.64		154.48		174.37		171.50
Current Peer Group	100.00		115.59		132.52		140.88		160.33		159.82

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 2012, is presented for each of the periods for the Company, the S&P 500 Index, the previous peer group and our current peer group. The changes from our previous peer group to our current peer group was that our previous group included Sanderson Farms and our current peer group includes the addition of the Kraft Heinz Company and The Coca-Cola Company. The complete list of our current 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., Kraft Heinz Company, McCormick & Co., Mondelez International Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, 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 both peer groups, with the return of each company in the peer groups 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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