The cpu usage gives you the load of the total of all cpu cores where 1 is 100% of one core. A cpu load of 4 means that 4 cpus would be needed to instantly process all requests. So a cpu load larger 1 is not an issue on systems with multiple cores.
Example:
On a 12-core-processor a cpu load of 6 means that the system has a 50% overall load.
On a 4-core-processor a cpu load of 1.10 means that the system has a 27.5 % overall load.
On a single-core-processor a cpu load of 0.86 means that the system is experiencing an 86% load (too much, see below).
Normally you should make sure that a cpu is not experiencing loads above 70% as collisions of processes increase exponentially. A system can operate trouble-free with a 60% load for example, but at 70% it becomes a lot slower than an increase of 10 percentage points would suggest.
For your numbers from above (0.86, 1.17, 1.20): They are just barely enough if you have 2 cpu cores available. If you only have a single core, you should move up to a better machine or virtual host.