Is Caterpillar's Dividend Streak in Jeopardy?

Caterpillar's (NYSE: CAT  ) fortunes have soared over the past 20 years, as the rise of emerging economies creating brand-new markets for the heavy-equipment manufacturer. Those opportunities helped Caterpillar become a dividend giant, establishing a 20-year track record of annual payout increases that has boosted its quarterly dividend more than 30-fold over that time frame. But now that Caterpillar's earnings have fallen substantially, dividend investors need to watch to make sure the stock's payout remains secure.

The same trends that helped Caterpillar rise so sharply since the early 1990s are now creating challenges for the company, as sluggish construction and infrastructure activity in China and the rest of the emerging market world has weighed on its growth prospects. CAT.