Despite their recent announcements to pay higher cash dividends to investors, South Korea's two leading carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., lag far behind global rivals in terms of payout ratio, data showed Sunday.

Last week, Hyundai said it will pay a cash dividend of 3,000 won ($2.77) per share to its shareholders, up 54 percent from what it paid a year earlier. It would cost the company around 817.3 billion won in total.

Its sister Kia also raised its cash dividend payout to 3,000 won per share, up 43 percent from last year, with an estimated 404.1 billion won in total payment.

Hyundai's dividend payout ratio, the proportion of earnings paid out as dividends to shareholders, jumped to 11.1 percent from 6.2 percent for 2013, while Kia saw the figure rise to 13.5 percent from 7.4 percent over the period.

However, the South Korean carmakers' ratios are still much lower than those for their rivals.

Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan posted 29.5 percent in dividend payout ratio for 2013 and is expected to surpass 30 percent for last year.

European automakers also have higher ratios, with Volkswagen AG holding 20.6 percent, Renault RA 30.6 percent and BMW AG 32.1 percent.

Analysts say that Hyundai and Kia have been reluctant to pay out dividends to their investors, citing that the automotive industry is sensitive to economic conditions such as foreign exchange rates.

The latest payout plan is still not enough to satisfy investors, compared with global carmakers, they noted.

"(Hyundai and Kia) failed to meet market demand for higher dividend payouts," said Park In-woo, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co. "Hyundai's stock price will hardly gain upward momentum in the short term."

 Shares of Hyundai finished flat at 168,000 won on the Seoul bourse Friday but slumped 2.04 percent on Thursday, when it announced its dividend payout plan as well as its 2014 earnings report. (Yonhap)