UPDATE 1-Hansen Natural to buy back $200 mln shares

(Adds details, stock movement, analyst comment)

BANGALORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Hansen Natural (HANS.O: Quote, Profile, Research), maker of the Monster energy drink, said it would buy back up to $200 million worth of common stock a day after shares of the company had touched a 52-week low.

Hansen's stock was up more than 5 percent to $33.34 in morning trade on the Nasdaq.

"We expect investors to be pleased by the decision to utilize the strong balance sheet to benefit shareholders," Judy Hong, beverage analyst at Goldman Sachs, said.

Shares of Hansen, which competes in the energy drinks market with privately held Austrian company Red Bull, have fallen more than 50 percent from their life high in October 2007 over concerns of a potential slowdown in the company's business.

Buybacks could help lift downbeat sentiment and provide relief to the stock's "compressed valuation," Hong wrote in a note to clients.

Hong, who upgraded the stock to "buy" in March, said the deceleration in the energy drinks sector in the first quarter was in tandem with a broader beverage industry slow-down, and Hansen was able increase share within the energy sector.

The analyst was however cautious as to the method of the repurchase, she said, as a significant portion of the company's cash was tied-up in illiquid securities. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Kurian)