The market has experienced a meaningful rotation in recent months thanks to a combination of accelerating economic growth, corporate tax cuts and rising interest rates. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index has quickly returned more than 7% since Dec. 1, 2017. However, many high-yield dividend stocks have trailed. The Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) have actually lost more 6% and 10%, respectively.

Many defensive stocks that pay generous dividends have simply been left in the dust, and several have declined to a point where they could be attractive for long-term income investors.

Take the nine high-yield stocks we're about to discuss, for instance. Shares of these businesses have all lost between 8% and 15% since the start of December, underperforming the S&P 500 by at least 15 percentage points in roughly two months. However, each company now yields between 3% and 7%, appears to have a timely valuation based on yield, has increased its payout for at least five straight years and possesses a solid Dividend Safety Score - a metric calculated by Simply Safe Dividends to gauge how secure a company's dividend looks.

In other words, these nine high-yield stocks appear to be priced to buy on this current dip.

Duke Energy

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Dividend yield: 4.6%

5-year average yield: 4.3%

Duke Energy (, $77.29) is one of the largest regulated