Philip Morris Cos., the world's largest tobacco company, is expected by analysts to raise its dividend by as much as 9 percent when its board meets today in New York. That would put the company's dividend yield at more than 5 percent, compared with the 1.2 percent in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

With an expected increase of 8 percent to 9 percent, the annual dividend payout would rise to $ 1.90 to $ 1.92 a share from its current $ 1.76.

Last year, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes boosted its dividend for the first time in two years, during negotiations toward the $ 206 billion legal settlement agreement the industry signed with 46 states in November. Philip Morris's stock has turned in the worst performance in the Dow Jones Industrial index this year.